Senators Unite to go After Iranian Regime’s Finances

South Florida Senator Marco Rubio joined Texas Senator Ted Cruz this week in unveiling the “Blocking Iranian Illicit Finance Act,” which seeks to “counter the Iranian regime’s money laundering and financing of terrorism, protect the global financial system from Iranian illicit finance, and impose maximum financial pressure on Iran.”

Criticizing the Iranian regime last week, Rubio commented that “This important legislation would empower the United States and our like-minded allies to do more to end the Iranian government’s ability to illicitly finance its dangerous efforts to sponsor terrorism and militancy, to advance its nuclear and missile programs, to egregiously abuse human rights in Iran and abroad, and to suppress the Iranian people’s aspirations for self-determination. I look forward to working with fellow lawmakers and the administration to enact this legislation and fully implement the maximum pressure against the regime in Tehran.”

In addition, Senator Ted Cruz also slammed the Iranian regime, but he focused more on the controversial nuclear deal made during the Obama administration.

Cruz explained that “The Obama Iran nuclear deal gifted the Ayatollahs with hundreds of billions of dollars and reconnected them to the global financial system, which they used to launder even more money and fund even more terrorism. Undoing that damage requires imposing maximum pressure against the Iranian regime. President Trump was absolutely right when he began that process by withdrawing from the nuclear deal. Effectively disconnecting Iran from the global financial system, which this bill does, is a necessary next step.”

Although the legislation will be taken care of next year when a new Congress convenes next month, Senator Cruz assured that he was ready to work with the incoming Democrat leadership by detailing that he looks “forward to working more with the administration and my congressional colleagues to ensure this bill becomes law during the next Congress.”