Sen. Cruz Commends Decision to Reimpose Countermeasures Against Iran

‘Today’s decision reinforces the need to sanction Iran’s entire financial sector to protect vulnerable banks around the world’

Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement in response to the decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to fully lift the suspension of countermeasures against Iran:

“The catastrophic Obama Iran nuclear deal reconnected Iran to the global financial system while also flooding the Ayatollahs with hundreds of billions of dollars, gifting them everything they needed to launder vast sums of money across the world for terrorism and proliferation. I have long called for the Financial Action Task Force to reimpose countermeasures against Iran, which are needed to protect the global financial system from Iran's illicit finance, and I applaud the Trump administration for using our influence to achieve that goal.

“Today’s decision reinforces the need to sanction Iran’s entire financial sector to protect vulnerable banks around the world. I have long pushed for legislation mandating such sanctions, and I intend to work with my colleagues and the administration to implement them.”

In December 2018, Sen. Cruz introduced legislation sanctioning Iran’s financial sector as part of the Blocking Iranian Illicit Finance Act. The legislation was cosponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

In February 2019, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin urging the Trump administration to “use the voice and influence of the United States” to ensure that the FATF reimposed countermeasures against Iran. The letter was co-signed by Sens. Cotton, Rubio, and Tillis.