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Chairman Nunes Introduces Iran Terrorism Bill

IRGC Sanctions Act would target financing for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

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Washington, December 15, 2015 | comments

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (CA-22) today introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to crack down on international funding of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC is a sprawling branch of the Iranian military responsible for numerous terrorist attacks throughout the world, including its provision of weapons and other support for Iraqi terrorists who killed U.S. soldiers. The organization also controls wide swathes of the Iranian economy, using income from its business interests to fund its terrorist activities.

As a result of President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran, an array of institutions controlled by the IRGC will be removed from the Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationalities. This action will allow IRGC-affiliated banks and companies to increase their international business activities, creating a new flow of funds for Iran’s primary terror apparatus.

Co-sponsored by eighteen Members of Congress, the IRGC Sanctions Act will ban any U.S. person from engaging in financial transactions with IRGC-affiliated companies. Additionally, the bill will:

  • Create a Watch List for IRGC-affiliated individuals. 

  • Specify that Congress must approve a decision to remove a country from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

  • Require all U.S. securities issuers to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission any transaction with the IRGC.

  • Prevent Iran from gaining normal trade ties with the United States unless the U.S. President certifies that the Iranian regime grants its citizens the freedom to emigrate.   

“The IRGC is one of the primary supporters of international terrorism in the world,” said Chairman Nunes. “Its tentacles reach throughout the Iranian economy and into international commerce. In light of the relief provided to the IRGC in President Obama’s nuclear agreement, Congress needs to ensure that this dangerous organization cannot attain new financial means to expand its power and threaten the American people and our servicemen and women.” 

Text of the IRGC Sanctions Act is available here. More information on the bill is available here and here.

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