President Barack Obama signed tough new sanctions on Iran into law late Wednesday, January 2, The Wall Street Journal reported. Congress, as it did with a previous law in late 2011, overwhelmingly approved the legislation and included it in a defense authorization bill. The new Iran measures target the country’s energy, shipping and shipbuilding sectors, already in the sights of U.S. sanctions. But the legislation goes further, restricting trade with Iran in precious metals, graphite, aluminum and steel, metallurgical coal and software for integrating industrial processes. Under the bill, the President would have to report back to Congress on whether any material was being used as barter to furnish transactions with Tehran as a way to avoid sanctions. Sanctions already in place have battered the Iranian economy, which has seen its currency crumble in value and its oil exports plummet.