US lawmakers are pushing for stricter enforcement of Iran's oil sanctions, adding to the growing pressure on the Biden administration following a deadly attack on a US base in Jordan.
In a letter addressed to the President, more than 60 House members from both parties are calling for "immediate action" to prevent the Iranian regime from obtaining "additional financial resources that it can use to continue supporting terrorism."
Iran's oil revenue has significantly increased in the past year or two, partially due to the Biden administration's more lenient approach compared to Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" policy.
Earlier this year, there were reports that the administration had reduced enforcement efforts against Iranian oil shipments as part of negotiations with Iran. The representatives are now urging the reversal of this policy.
The Republican-led House has been advocating for a tougher stance against Iran since the Biden administration initiated back-channel talks with the regime three years ago to pursue another nuclear agreement. Several bipartisan initiatives have passed the House on this issue, but none have been successful.
However, the dynamic shifted against Biden after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7. In the three months following the Israeli response to Gaza, armed groups supported and trained by Iran's IRGC conducted over 150 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria, exposing the failure of Biden's Iran policy.
Last week, before the killing of US troops, reports indicated that the Biden administration was in discussions with European countries to increase sanctions on Iran in response to its destabilizing activities in the Middle East, particularly its support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
This was perhaps the first clear indication that the administration was contemplating a shift in its Iran policy. The recent drone strike may have made this shift inevitable. The loss of American lives has put immense pressure on Biden to take action against Iran, and it has emboldened both Republican and Democrat critics to push for a policy change.
The House letter to President Biden emphasizes the need to crack down on Iran's expanding and lucrative illicit oil trade, which provides crucial funding for Hamas and other terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah.
While President Biden holds Iran responsible for supplying weapons to those who carried out the attack on American soldiers, he has not revealed the specific course of action. However, experts speculate on potential targets, which could include IRGC personnel and facilities outside Iran. Still, it is unlikely to involve military action within Iran itself, as the Biden administration seeks to avoid war with the country.
Targeting Iran's financial resources, particularly its oil trade, appears to be a more feasible and effective strategy in influencing its behavior. The House representatives are calling on the administration to take swift action to halt Iran's illicit oil trade, which sustains and expands Tehran's sponsorship of terrorist groups seeking Israel's destruction.
“Key to Israel’s—and the region’s—security is dealing with Iran,” wrote William J. Burns in an article called Spycraft and Statecraft in Foreign Affairs.
The US spy chief said the Hamas atrocities of October 7, which has sparked Iran’s proxies across the region to ignite, has only empowered Iran, worsened by a weak US leadership.
“The Iranian regime has been emboldened by the [Gaza] crisis and seems ready to fight to its last regional proxy, all while expanding its nuclear program and enabling Russian aggression,” the spy chief wrote.
“In the months after October 7, the Houthis, the Yemeni rebel group allied with Iran, began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, and the risks of escalation on other fronts persist,” he said.
However, with more than 160 attacks by the proxies on US facilities and personnel since the Gaza war broke out, and just a handful of military responses from Washington, there has been little deterrence, he admitted.
“The United States is not exclusively responsible for resolving any of the Middle East’s vexing problems. But none of them can be managed, let alone solved, without active US leadership.”
He said the ensuing “crisis precipitated by Hamas’s butchery … is a painful reminder of the complexity of the choices that the Middle East continues to pose for the United States”.
While competition with China will remain Washington’s highest priority, the Middle East has now reared its head, at a time when Biden has done his utmost to avoid conflict and attempted to pull away from the region.
The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2021 was a disaster leaving a more emboldened Taliban in charge, and the refusal to deal more strongly with Iran has seen hostages exchanged for billions of dollars yet the regime continues to bolster its nuclear program in spite of global sanctions.
“I have spent much of the last four decades working in and on the Middle East, and I have rarely seen it more tangled or explosive,” he warned. “Winding down the intense Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip, meeting the deep humanitarian needs of suffering Palestinian civilians, freeing hostages, preventing the spread of conflict to other fronts in the region, and shaping a workable approach for the “day after” in Gaza are all incredibly difficult problems.”
Beyond the Middle East, Iran continues to inflame the fans of conflict elsewhere, including its assistance to Russia in its unending war on Ukraine. “This year is likely to be a tough one on the battlefield in Ukraine, a test of staying power whose consequences will go well beyond the country’s heroic struggle to sustain its freedom and independence,” he warned, the war now entering its third year.
Iran has become a key ally, supplying the likes of drones used on civilian populations as the two sanctioned nations grow ever closer. “As Putin regenerates Russia’s defense production—with critical components from China, as well as weaponry and munitions from Iran and North Korea—he continues to bet that time is on his side, that he can grind down Ukraine and wear down its Western supporters,” added Burns.