State Department: Iran Remains the "Foremost State Sponsor of Terrorism"
Released on June 2, the State
Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism declared Iran remained
the "foremost state sponsor of terrorism" in 2015. In spite of the Iran
deal reached last summer, Tehran has stepped up its efforts to dominate
and destabilize the region through "support for Hizballah, Palestinian
terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Iraq and throughout the
Middle East." America must continue to vigorously oppose Iran's malign
activities
and strictly enforce sanctions that target Iran's support for terrorism. |
The report states Iran is the primary driver of regional instability:
· Middle East: "Iran used the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to implement
foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations, and
create instability in the Middle East. The IRGC-QF is Iran's primary
mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad."
· Syria: "In addition to its
ongoing support for Hizballah in Syria, Iran continued to provide arms,
financing, training, and the facilitation of primarily Iraqi, Afghan,
and Pakistani Shia fighters to support the Assad regime's brutal
crackdown that has resulted in the deaths of more than 250,000 people in
Syria."
· Hizballah: "Since the end of
the 2006 Israeli-Hizballah conflict in 2006, Iran has also assisted in
rearming Hizballah, in direct violation of UNSCR 1701. Iran has provided
hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Hizballah in Lebanon and
has trained thousands of its fighters at camps in Iran. These trained
fighters have used these skills in direct support of the Asad regime in
Syria and, to a lesser extent, in support of operations against ISIL in
Iraq.
They have also carried out isolated attacks along the Lebanese border
with Israel."
· Iraq: "Iran also increased its
arming and funding of Iraqi Shia terrorist groups ... Many of these
groups ... have exacerbated sectarian tensions in Iraq and have
committed serious human rights abuses against primarily Sunni
civilians."
· Bahrain: "Iran has also
provided weapons, funding, and training to Shia militants in Bahrain. In
2015, the Government of Bahrain raided, interdicted, and rounded up
numerous Iran-sponsored weapons caches, arms transfers, and militants.
This includes the Bahraini government's discovery of a bomb-making
facility with 1.5 tons of high-grade explosives in September."
· Palestinian Territories:
"Although Hamas's ties to Tehran have been strained due to the Syrian
civil war, both sides took steps in 2015 to repair relations. Iran
continued to declare its vocal support for Palestinian terrorist groups
and its hostility to Israel in 2015."
· Global: "Iran and Hizballah
reportedly continued to prepare for attacks against Israeli targets
outside the country. In late November, Kenyan security agencies
announced that they had arrested two Iranian citizens, allegedly sent by
the Iranian IRGC/Quds force to execute a terrorist attack against
Israeli targets in Nairobi. In May, Cypriot police arrested a
Lebanese-Canadian national, Hussain Abdallah, who later admitted he was
working for Hizballah's External
Security Organization."
Iran rebuffed the report, denied its links to terrorism and blamed America.
· On June 5, Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Hossein Jaberi Ansari rebuffed the report, stating
"The legitimate struggle of nations which are occupied ... are not
examples of terrorism, and such charges in the American report are
rejected." Ansari also condemned, "U.S. military interferences and
destructive support for terrorist groups in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria,
Libya and Yemen."
· On June 3, Iran's Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei declared, "It's the U.S., the evil Britain, and the
damned and cancerous Zionist regime. These are the main enemies."
The United States must hold Iran accountable for its support of terrorism.
· The United States must
vigorously enforce terrorism-related sanctions against Iran, so that
Tehran understands that support for terrorism will lead to negative
consequences.
· Congress should continue to
challenge any effort to provide additional benefits to Iran beyond those
explicitly enumerated by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
· The United States should
continue warning international banks about the dangers of conducting
business with Iran, including the dominant role of the IRGC in Iran's
economy. The IRGC remains under U.S. sanctions and any bank doing
business with the group risks losing access to the U.S. financial
system.
· Hamas and Hezbollah remain
designated foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), and America should
continue to warn international banks of Iran's continued close ties with
these organizations.
· The United States should work
in concert with Israel and its Gulf allies to repel Iran's regional
aggression and continued malign activities. |
No comments:
Post a Comment