U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) introduced Monday the Iranian Terror Prevention Act, which would fully penalize and designate 11 Iranian proxy organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.
Fifty-nine Republicans co-sponsored the legislation.
“Iran has long utilized proxy forces to execute their terror agenda throughout the region. Iranian proxy forces have American blood on their hands dating back decades. In addition to this weekend’s unprecedented attack directly from Iran on Israel, we’ve seen ramped up, repeated proxy attacks on U.S. troops and our other allies in the Middle East. Iran is clearly emboldened by the Biden administration’s weakness,” said Rep. Steube.
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“Washington has failed to designate most of the Iranian-backed militias as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. No more excuses. We must combat terrorism with boldness and strength. My legislation takes urgent, necessary actions to fully sanction these terrorist groups who hate our country and ensure the full weight of the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation is harshly felt,” said Steube.
Christians United for Israel, Organization of Iranian American Communities, and National Union for Democracy in Iran support the legislation.
The legislation requires the Secretary of State to designate as an FTO the following organizations, including the militias who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad multiple times in recent years, those who attacked our troops in Iraq, and most recently those who attacked and killed US troops in Jordan: Abu Fadl al-Abbas Brigades, Ansarallah (otherwise known as the ‘‘Houthis’’), Badr Organization, Fatemiyoun Brigade, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kata’ib al-Imam Ali, Kata’ib Jund al-Imam, Kata’ib Sayyad al Shuhada, Sarayya al-Jihad, Sarayya Khorasani, Zainabiyoun Brigade, and any foreign entity or organization that is an agent of, affiliated with, or owned or controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
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Many of these groups are not already sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 13224. The legislation would require the President to make a determination on sanctioning the following groups: Abu Fadl al-Abbas Brigades, Badr Organization, Kata’ib al-Imam Ali, Kata’ib Jund al-Imam, Sarayya al-Jihad, Sarayya Khorasani. Lastly, the legislation requires reports on any new entities meeting the requirements for designation as an FTO or sanctions pursuant to E.O. 13224, as well as a report from the President with a detailed explanation should he decide not to sanction any of the aforementioned groups pursuant to E.O. 13224.
“As we have seen with the unprecedented attacks on Israel this weekend, there’s no real difference between Iran and its puppet militias. It’s preposterous that we have not designated all of Iran’s proxy militias as terrorist organizations. These militias have killed Americans and wrecked havoc in the Middle East and across the world. They are armed, funded and directed by the IRGC. They must be designated as terrorist organizations immediately,” said Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).
“The Iran regime’s brutal attack of Israel over the weekend only reinforces the need to cut off their network of terrorist puppets around the world, and this bill formally designates these groups as terrorist organizations. These groups and their offshoots were formed, armed, trained, and directed by the regime in Tehran decades ago and continue their commitment to ‘Death to America, Death to Israel’ today,” said RSC National Security Task Force Chairman Joe Wilson (SC-02)’
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