Global Courant 2023-04-29 22:31:57
WASHINGTON (AP) — A dozen senators are making a bipartisan call for President Joe Biden to revive the power of US authorities to seize Iranian oil assets under an enforcement program they say is allowed to go away to languish.
Despite existing sanctions, Iran’s oil exports rose 35% last year and the proceeds are being used to sponsor attacks on US citizens and military personnel and allies, the senators said in a letter to the president.
Brinkmanship at sea was on display on Thursday when Iranian naval commandos were masked US oil tanker seized in the Gulf of Oman, one of several ships it has used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the West. Without providing evidence, Tehran said the tanker had run into an Iranian ship.
In particular, the senators, led by Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut—both of the Armed Services Committee—are complaining that the Homeland Security Department’s Investigations Office is limited in seizures due to lack of funds.
Since the enforcement program began in 2019, the agency has seized nearly $228 million in Iranian crude and fuel oil linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the US has designated as a terrorist organization, the senators in the US said. letter sent last week.
But they said the agency has recently been denied funds available under the Treasury Forfeiture Fund to carry out seizures of Iranian oil.
“It is unacceptable that a US government program that makes the United States and its allies safer, provides funds to heal the victims of terrorism and generates revenue for the United States in a cost-effective manner has been allowed to languish. ” it says in the letter.
The pressure comes from a diverse group of senators, including Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Ron Wyden of Oregon. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
