REPORT: Biden Administration “bypassing sanctions” to increase trade with Iran
While Iran finances a multi-front war that threatens Israel’s existence, the Biden State Department is sidestepping financial sanctions and increasing trade with the Islamist regime, at a time when Iran’s economy is in dire straits.
The Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday that US trade with Iran jumped 43% last year, reaching more than $81 million. The Free Beacon’s claim was based on an unclassified, non-public State Department report provided to Congress and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The article surmised that this was accomplished by “the Biden-Harris administration…bypassing tough American sanctions on Tehran in order to stimulate its flagging economy and provide the hardline regime with a financial lifeline.”
“The United States imported $22.3 million in goods from Iran in 2023 and exported $59 million, accounting for $81.3 million in total trade between the countries, according to the State Department report submitted to Congress earlier this week. Overall trade between the United States and Iran rose by more than $24 million from 2022 to 2023, marking a 43 percent increase, according to figures published in the report.”
Iran’s oil revenues, a key source of cash for the regime, have topped more than $90 billion since the Biden-Harris administration came to power and began easing sanctions on Tehran’s energy sector.
Ironically, Iran’s trade with China, one of its closest allies, fell by 7% during the same period, representing 48% of Iran’s total trade.
A recent article in Tehran Times reported that Russia was the fifth top trade partner of Iran, with the value of 5-months of trade between Iran and Russia standing at over $968 million. The article cited the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration as saying that the value of Iran’s non-oil trade with its neighbors increased by 16% in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year, to reach $26.857 billion.
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Iran’s trade with Turkey, a NATO member, increased by 6% last year, reaching $6.01 billion in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-August 21).
US trade with Iran consists of “agricultural goods, medicine, and medical devices,” according to a footnote in the State Department’s report. These exports are facilitated through licenses granted under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, which eased trade restrictions on humanitarian goods. Imports from Iran are allowed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which can waive certain sanctions for national security reasons.
In addition, the Biden Administration has repeatedly bypassed sanctions to help Iran access over $100 billion in cash resources. The administration has also repeatedly issued a sanctions waiver that permits Iraq to pay Iran for electricity imports, representing around $10 billion for the regime. It is believed this cash helps Tehran finance its regional terror proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, which are both still waging war on Israel.
In addition, the Free Beacon reported that Iranian trade with the United Kingdom jumped by 66 percent from 2022 to 2023. This includes $116 million in imports from Iran and $76 million in exports. This is despite new sanctions enacted in September 2024 by the UK government intended to “disrupt production and supply of unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles, and further increase the pressure on Iran’s defense industry.”
“Since the last reporting period,” the State Department wrote, “overall G20 trade with Iran decreased 14 percent, representing a $5 billion decrease.” The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU).
If the data are accurate, the US and UK are the exceptions, bypassing international sanctions against Iran to increase trade with the Islamist regime vastly.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia nearly quadrupled its trade with Iran from $5 million to $24.8 million. Relations between the Persian Shia state of Iran and the Sunni Arab Saudi monarchy have been strained, and the Obama deal with Iran, which greenlighted the Iranian nuclear program, exacerbated the situation. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were cut off in 2016 but reestablished in May 2023.
“It’s no surprise that the Iranian regime was able to engage and pay for increased trade with the U.S., and to bolster their economy more broadly,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the Free Beacon. “Indeed, regime outlets have been bragging that trade with the U.S. has doubled again in the first quarter of 2024. Iran then uses their financial and economic strength to conduct terrorism around the world, including terrorism directly targeting Americans.”
“The Biden-Harris administration has done everything they can to flood the Ayatollah with cash and facilitate the regime’s ability to finance terrorism,” the senator said. “They’ve refused to enforce sanctions, waived other sanctions, and worked with banks around the world to free up and transfer Iranian assets.”
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