With Administration's Failure to Designate National Iranian Tanker Company as Agent of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, Regime Retains a Critical Resource to Fund its Nuclear Weapons Program, Ros-Lehtinen Says

(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today commented the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s report, pursuant to the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (H.R. 1905), that designates the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as an agent of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) but fails to designate the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) as well.  Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

“While I welcome the Administration’s designation of the NIOC as an agent of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps , their failure to designate the NITC as well underlines the Administration’s continued resistance towards the full implementation of sanctions enacted by Congress against Iran.  The NITC reflags and renames its vessels to hide their true ownership and engages in the same deceptive practices for which the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line was sanctioned in 2010, yet the Administration failed to designate it as an agent of the IRGC.

“The NITC’s cooperation with the NIOC, by default, designates it as an agent of the IRGC. Congress is aware of the NIOC’s and NITC’s support for the IRGC and under the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act urged the designation of both as agents of the Iranian regime.  Then why has the Obama Administration failed to make this clear connection? Without such a designation, the NITC will continue to support the IRGC’s dangerous activities and Tehran will continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons. 

“Now is not the time for half-measures.    The Administration needs to take appropriate action immediately to ramp up sanctions, including through the NITC designation, and deny the IRGC a critical resource. It’s time to throw all we have at the regime if we are to prevent it from reaching the point of no return and we are faced with a nuclear weapons capable Iran.”

NOTE:  Chairman Ros-Lehtinen sent a letter on August 3, 2012 to President Obama urging him to designate the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) as proxies of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following the passage of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (HR 1905) by both the House and Senate.  The letter, which was signed by more than 200 Members of the House from both sides of the aisle, called on President Obama and his Administration to recognize the collusion of these companies with the IRGC and their ability to provide the Iranian regime with critical resources.  For a signed copy of this letter, please click here.

#####