Julian Pecquet writes:  The State Department (State) is three years late in slapping certain sanctions on Iran, prompting new allegations that the Barack Obama administration is deliberately skirting US law in its quest for a nuclear deal.
Under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA), State is supposed to inform Congress every six months of attempts to help the three countries obtain weapons of mass destruction and certain missile technology. The law requires the agency to sanction violators or justify its decision not to.
But the department has fallen way behind in recent years.  Delays have kept on getting longer, with Congress receiving an update on violations committed in 2011 only in December 2014.

The State Department acknowledges the delays but faults a complex web of agency reviews to make sure allegations of violations are substantiated. Republicans, however, are jumping on the report as further evidence of the Obama administration bending over backwards to placate Tehran.

The GAO report is but the latest example of questionable sanctions enforcement that has raised congressional ire in recent months. A panel of experts for the UN’s Iran sanctions committee said that member states have not been reporting international sanctions violations by Iran. That’s despite widespread evidence of continued arms shipments to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen in addition to Hezbollah and Hamas.
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The US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, disputed that account in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 16.

“There’s a direct correlation between this administration not wanting to sanction anyone or any violation and their lack of reporting on those violations,” she said. “And it’s sending a signal to the international community that the United States is not serious about any of our sanctions, that if you talk to the right folks at certain agencies and get a pass.”