Sullivan & 15 Colleagues Send Letter Warning International Business Community About Resuming Business with Iran

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and 15 Republican senators today sent a letter to the international business community warning them about resuming business with Iran if U.S. sanctions are lifted.

In part, the senators wrote, 'Your member companies may see this potential removal of U.S. sanctions on Iran as a lucrative opportunity. Trust us, they should not. If U.S. sanctions on Iran were temporarily lifted and these firms decided to reenter the Iranian market, not only would they be engaging with a corrupt and capricious regime, they would be investing in ventures doomed to fail. These firms would also risk exposure to individuals and companies that are intertwined with the malign activities of the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. So long as the Islamic Republic of Iran continues its outlaw behavior, we will support robust sanctions against the regime.'

'Any attempt by the Biden administration to broker a JCPOA-like deal or offer sanctions relief to the Iranian regime will be fleeting. The original Iran deal was never submitted to the United States Senate and ratified as a legally binding treaty. Any agreement that does not receive the broad and bipartisan support of Congress will not survive if a Republican is elected president in 2024. Any sanctions relief will also be severely limited if Republicans win back majorities in Congress in 2022. The U.S. Congress has passed several laws sanctioning the Iranian regime over the past decade, at times rolling over executive-branch opposition with huge bipartisan majorities. Put simply, any new Iran deal that does not address Iran's nuclear program, ballistic and cruise missile development, support for terrorism, hostage-taking, gross human rights violations, and other malign behaviors will not receive durable, bipartisan support in the United States,' the senators continued.

The letter, led by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), was also signed by Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.).

The letter was sent to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Financial Services Forum, the Business Roundtable, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES), the British Chambers of Commerce, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Australian Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Switzerland, the SWIFT Board of Directors, the European Bankers Association, and the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU.

The full text of the letter is here and below.

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