Biden won’t allow seizure of Iranian oil tankers under sanctions.

Lawmakers Accuse White House of Undermining Sanctions Regime

The Biden administration is facing criticism from lawmakers who claim that it is hindering efforts to seize ships carrying sanctioned Iranian oil, thereby enabling the hardline regime to fund its terrorist activities. The Department of Homeland Security has been unable to oil tankers under sanctions.”>seize tankers carrying sanctioned oil for a year due to “policy limitations” enacted by the Treasury Department. This has contributed to a 35% increase in Iranian oil exports over the past year, according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers who are demanding that the Biden administration rectify its contradictory approach.

Bipartisan Support for Sanctions Enforcement

A group of 12 senators, led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), wrote to President Joe Biden in April, stating that “United States sanctions should be enforced to the fullest extent of the law.” The senators argue that as Iranian oil sales continue to rise, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continues to target US citizens and service members, it is imperative that all available government assets are used to limit the activities of the Iranian regime. The bipartisan support for the letter signals that members of both parties are increasingly frustrated by the Biden administration’s soft approach towards Tehran.

Iran’s Terrorism Enterprise

Crude oil is a primary source of revenue for Iran’s hardline regime, funding its massive regional terrorism enterprise helmed by the IRGC, a paramilitary fighting force that has killed hundreds of Americans. The Biden administration has only imposed eight sanctions on Iran, a significant downswing from the dozens imposed during the Trump administration. Iran has mostly disregarded these sanctions, selling its historically cheap oil everywhere from China to Syria and into Latin America. Lawmakers say Iran can only be deterred through strict sanctions enforcement that directly confronts Iran.

White House’s Misguided Diplomacy

Sen. Ernst says the White House’s misguided diplomacy puts Americans at risk. “Enforcing these sanctions actually hits the Iranian regime where it hurts: their own wallets lined with oil money that funds terrorist activities against Americans both abroad and in the homeland,” Ernst told the Washington Free Beacon. “That requires empowering our federal agents to enforce the law.”

Failure to Support HSI’s Iranian Oil Seizure and Disruption Operations

While the Homeland Security seizures unit has been allocated millions in funding, the administration has chosen not to spend this money, according to the lawmakers. “The failure to support HSI’s Iranian oil seizure and disruption operations … despite available funds, is a policy choice that must be reversed,” they wrote. The Biden administration’s stance also hinders victims of Iranian terrorism. Since 2019, the United States has sold oil from seized Iranian ships and invested the profits in a fund for American victims of terrorism.

“It is unacceptable that a U.S. government program, which makes the United States and its allies safer, provides funds to remediate the victims of terrorism, and generates income for the United States in a cost-effective manner has been allowed to languish,” the lawmakers noted in their letter. Iran, meanwhile, has stepped up its terrorism operations in international waters, seizing two oil tankers at the end of April.