SE North Carolina News

Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) has joined a bipartisan coalition letter led by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) urging President Biden to enforce current law and take action against Iran's illicit oil trade through sanctions. The letter also encourages support for proposed legislation, including the bipartisan Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act.

The letter, co-signed by a total of 18 Senators, emphasizes the need to prevent illicit trade in Iranian oil and deny Iran the financial resources it uses to attack U.S. forces and allies in the Middle East. It highlights the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which was enabled by Iranian funding, training, and equipping of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad. The letter also mentions Iranian support for proxies like Hezbollah, Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen.

To address these threats, the Senators urge the Biden administration to take immediate action to deny the regime in Iran additional financial resources. They specifically call for focusing on Iran's expanding and lucrative illicit oil trade, which has seen significant growth in recent years. The proposed sanctions in the SHIP and End IT Acts would strengthen existing sanctions by targeting ships, ports, and refineries involved in transactions with Iranian oil products.

The letter provides alarming statistics about Iran's oil exports, stating that the country now exports over 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, with two-thirds of it going to China. Iran has earned at least $88 billion from these illicit oil exports between February 2021 and October 2023. The Senators argue that these surging exports and increasing sanctions evasion enable Iran to provide financial and material support to terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Senators emphasize the importance of strengthening sanctions on Iranian oil in light of the ongoing attacks on U.S. forces by Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East. They mention more than 140 attacks on U.S. troops since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of three U.S. servicemembers and numerous injuries. These attacks are directly enabled by Iran's financial and military support to militias and other groups in Iraq and Syria. Additionally, the Iranian-backed Houthis have launched attacks on Israeli civilians from Yemen and have disrupted commerce in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

In conclusion, the Senators urge President Biden to take additional action to stop Iran's illicit oil trade. They specifically call for the sanctioning of ships transporting Iranian petroleum products, as well as foreign ports and refineries that knowingly accept these products. The letter expresses gratitude to the President for his attention to this important matter.

The full text of the letter can be found in the original article.