Gov. Mike Pence is vowing to maintain Indiana’s sanctions on Iran despite an expected loosening of federal trade restrictions with the aspiring nuclear power.
In separate letters sent Monday to President Barack Obama and the Hoosier congressional delegation, the Republican governor detailed his opposition to the president’s Iran nuclear deal.
“It will not make the United States or our most cherished ally, Israel, safer,” Pence said. “Instead, it promises Iran a lifting of United States nuclear-related sanctions for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear weapons program that will only halt its ambitions temporarily, rather than permanently dismantle its nuclear desires.”
Nevertheless, Pence said Indiana will continue to prohibit the investment of state-controlled pension funds in Iranian-connected enterprises, as it has since 2009.
In addition, he said state and local government contracts will be denied to companies that annually do more than $20 million in business with Iran’s energy sector, in accordance with a 2012 law sponsored by state Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, and former state Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster.
Pence said he also will work with the Republican-controlled General Assembly during its 2016 session “to examine whether there are any new steps the state can take to bolster our sanctions or show support for Israel.”
