Biden Administration imposes fresh sanctions on Iran after releasing funds to the Islamic regime a month earlier

On Tuesday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that the Biden administration would impose new sanctions targeting Iran in the wake of the regime’s attack on Israel over the weekend.

Sullivan stated that the U.S. would coordinate with its allies, including the G7 countries, to determine the response to the attack.

“In the coming days, the United States will impose new sanctions targeting Iran, including its missile and drone program as well as new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Defense Ministry,” he stated. “In addition, we continue to work through the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command to further strengthen and expand the successful integration of air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East to further erode the effectiveness of Iran’s missile and UAV capabilities.”

“These new sanctions and other measures will continue a steady drumbeat of pressure to contain and degrade Iran’s military capacity and effectiveness and confront the full range of its problematic behaviors,” he continued. “Over the last three years, in addition to missile and drone-related sanctions, the United States has sanctioned over 600 individuals and entities connected to terrorism, terrorist financing and other forms of illicit trade, horrific human rights abuses, and support for proxy terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Kataib Hezbollah. The pressure will continue.”

Although the Biden administration may impose sanctions, the White House extended last month a waiver on sanctions that could allow up to $10 billion to flow to Iran from Iraq through electricity payments to Iran via third-party countries.

In a letter to the Treasury and State Departments, four House Republicans protested the move, writing, “Given the Biden Administration’s posture on the last waiver we presume that the Biden Administration will renew the waiver again to continue to allow for the transfer of funds from Iraq to Oman. By waiving the application of sanctions, the Administration is maintaining a financial lifeline for the Iranian regime, even as it continues to support terrorist organizations around the world.”

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“Iran has a history of lying about humanitarian transactions,” they pointed out. “There is no reason to think that they will not try to skirt these restrictions again. Additionally, money is fungible, and the waiver and subsequent transfer will free up billions in funds that Iran can now spend on its terrorist proxies, nuclear activities, and military.”

“Under these waivers, no money has been permitted to enter Iran,” a State Department official stated. “These funds, which are held abroad in third countries, can only be used for transactions for the purchase of food, agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, and other non-sanctionable transactions. The money goes straight to the trusted vendor or financial institution in another country. The money never touches Iran.”

The Wall Street Journal noted last November:

Iran exported nearly 1.4 million barrels of oil per day in October, sustaining its average for 2023. This is up 80% from the 775,000 barrels per day Iran averaged under the Trump Administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy, according to United Against Nuclear Iran, the group of former U.S. Ambassador Mark Wallace and Sen. Joe Lieberman, whose Tanker Tracker generates the best public data we have. The Iranian surge in oil exports since President Biden took over has brought Iran an additional $32 billion to $35 billion, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.