Press Releases

Today, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) and Congressman Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) released the following statement after sending a letter with 60 bipartisan colleagues to President Biden urging action to combat Iran’s illicit oil trade.

The letter, supported by FDD Action, AIPAC, JINSA, and UANI, clearly calls on the Biden Administration to reverse course on their lax sanctions policy, which have resulted in over $88 billion flowing into Iran’s coffers. This money has certainly helped finance recent attacks by Iranian proxies in the Red Sea and across the Middle East.

“The barbaric October 7, 2023 attack on Israel was a stark wake-up call about the threats Iranian-backed terrorist groups pose to Americans and our allies in the Middle East, as well as the dangers inherent to appeasing the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Congressmen Lawler and Moskowitz. “Iran directly enables the ongoing attacks by funding, training, and equipping Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.”

“In response to the October 7th attacks and Iran’s subsequent mobilization of its terrorist proxy forces across the region, we urge the Administration to take immediate action to deny the Islamic Republic additional financial resources that it can use to continue supporting terrorism,” continued Congressmen Lawler and Moskowitz. “These efforts should start by immediately cracking down on Iran’s expanding and lucrative illicit oil trade, which has surged in recent years despite international sanctions on Iran remaining in place.”

“Iran now exports more than 1.4 million barrels of crude oil daily, over 80% of which goes to China. From February 2021 to October 2023, the regime has taken at least $88 billion from these illicit oil exports,” concluded Congressmen Lawler and Moskowitz. “We support bipartisan, bicameral efforts in Congress to address Iran’s expanding oil trade. We, therefore, call on the administration to take immediate action to stop Iran’s illicit oil trade and sanction entities transporting Iranian petroleum products and the foreign ports and refineries that knowingly accept those products, along with any financial institutions facilitating these transactions.”

New York's 17th Congressional District is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.