US Senate passes Russia and Iran sanctions bill

What happened

• Bill named after the Republican senator who died on 11 July; a Democratic senator co-authored it, Politika reports.
• Senators rejected an amendment stripping the president's authority to tariff importers of Russian energy, TASS reports.
• Text targets Russia's central bank, Sberbank, Gazprombank, Yamal LNG, Arctic LNG projects and the shadow tanker fleet.
• Iran section extends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 for five years, with a presidential waiver option.
• House vote expected no earlier than early September; Congress is in recess until 31 August. Trump endorsed the text on 29 July.

The view from outside

Outlets outside the conflict parties name different targets: Al Jazeera lists China and India among at least five affected importers, The National adds Japan and some EU states, and The Hindu headlines India plus four others. The National also notes that the June memorandum establishing the US-Iran ceasefire barred new sanctions, while Tehran says Washington must first honour it.

What could happen next

• Two Democratic House members call the tariff powers unrestrained and the adopted version unacceptable, signalling a harder passage.
• Which five buyer countries and which five alleged sanctions-evaders would be hit is not settled in the reporting.
• Trump has said repeatedly this week that an Iran deal will come "soon"; the House text could still change.
• Bloomberg reports the US Treasury separately sanctioned Iranian digital-asset exchanges.