Capito calls on Biden to enforce congressionally-mandated sanctions on Iran

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is once again calling on President Joe Biden to enforce congressionally-mandated sanctions on Iran.

Capito has joined 17 other Republicans in the U.S. Senate in calling on Biden to immediately enforce oil sanctions on Iran as mandated by Congress. The lawmakers also are demanding that Biden permanently freeze the $6 billion funding mechanism established in September’s hostage agreement with Iran.

Capito said Iran will not use that $6 billion to help its own people, but instead for “nefarious purposes” in the region and beyond.

In addition to Capito, lawmakers making the written request to Biden include U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kan., U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., U.S. Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., U.S. Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, U.S. Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., U.S. Senator James Lankford, R-Okla., U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, R-Kan, U.S. Senator John Kennedy, R-La., U.S. Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

In the letter, the lawmakers say it is time for Biden to stop pampering Iran.

“For far too long, Iran has evaded consequence for its complacency in funding radical terror,” Capito and the 17 senators wrote in the letter to Biden. “To prevent further atrocities and to fulfill our promise of providing unwavering support to our most important ally in the Middle East, we urge your administration to take the necessary means in severing financial avenues available to Iran, specifically cracking down on oil exports.”

But the 18 lawmakers also want Biden to take concrete steps to ensure that Iran won’t be able to use the $6 billion in funding Biden has already promised.

“Blocking the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism from accessing this $6 billion — rescinding or revising all waivers and licenses involved — will hinder the regime’s ability to support the death and destruction of our allies,” the lawmakers added in the letter to Biden.

They conclude that any relaxation of congressionally-mandated sanctions against Iran while funding flows to terror organizations is “wholly unacceptable.”