WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, yesterday joined Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), along with five other Senate Republican colleagues, in sending a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging them to hold terrorist groups linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accountable for attacks on U.S. servicemembers.
“In recent months, these Iraq-based terror groups reportedly murdered a U.S. citizen in Baghdad, murdered a U.S. contractor and wounded four U.S. service personnel in Syria, and abducted a U.S.-based researcher,” the Senators wrote. “Many of these Iraq-based groups participated in the more than two dozen attacks on U.S. troops in the region since October 17. In each such attack, groups responsible have ties to the IRGC but are not currently designated as FTOs under U.S. law.”
A copy of the letter can be found here and below.
Dear Secretaries Blinken and Yellen,
We write regarding Iraq-based terrorist militias linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran who are responsible for multiple attacks on U.S. servicemembers throughout the Middle East. While some of these groups are designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO), they are increasingly rebranding and reforming to evade terrorist designations and sanctions. In addition to a military response to deter these groups, we urge you to extend FTO designations to hold them accountable for their attacks on American citizens.
Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Iran empowers, trains, equips, and funds Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen. Iran similarly supports various Shia extremist groups in Iraq. In recent months, these Iraq-based terror groups reportedly murdered a U.S. citizen in Baghdad, murdered a U.S. contractor and wounded four U.S. service personnel in Syria, and abducted a U.S.-based researcher. Many of these Iraq-based groups participated in the more than two dozen attacks on U.S. troops in the region since October 17. In each such attack, groups responsible have ties to the IRGC but are not currently designated as FTOs under U.S. law.
The United States has an obligation to protect its citizens, which means ensuring that IRGC-linked organizations can’t terrorize them under different names. As Iranian influence expands through regional proxies, those proxies must carry the same terrorist designation as their sponsor. We urge the Department of State to extend the FTO designation to the Iraq-based groups listed in the attachment to this letter and update those designations as needed to ensure they remain effective. We also urge the Department of the Treasury to sanction these groups and their financial networks.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
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