Legislation from Congressman Bill Huizenga to crack down on Iran following its attack on Israel is now headed to the U.S. Senate.
The House voted last week to approve the bill, which Huizenga tells us blocks Iran from using International Monetary Fund dollars.
“Unbelievably, in 2021, Iran was able to access some special drawing rights, is what they’re called, to gain access to $5 billion through the IMF,” Huizenga said. “Sadly, our Treasury Department in this administration did not object to that. So when you’re putting $5 billion into the economy of Iran, that frees up money in other areas to then go do things like fund Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Huizenga’s bill also prohibits the U.S. Treasury from issuing licenses that allow U.S. financial institutions to enable trade with Iran and blocks Export-Import Bank financing from projects in Iran.
The House passed the bill 294 to 105. Huizenga says there have been plenty of U.S. sanctions on Iran, but they all came in the form of executive orders, while this puts sanctions into law.
