When I learned recently that Iran had sanctioned me, I viewed it as a badge of honor. But it should remind us all about President Joe Biden’s relationship with Iran.
Even as Iran is targeting Americans like myself, Biden is letting the No. 1 state sponsor of terror off the hook for its support of terrorism and threats against the United States. Forget Iran’s attack on me — Biden should be holding Iran accountable for so much more.
Biden has spent the last year falling over himself to get back into a nuclear deal with the ayatollahs. Yet only now is it becoming clear how much he’s willing to give away. For years, the U.S. has applied unprecedented sanctions on Iranian oil shipments, which finance terrorists across the Middle East and military assaults on American troops. Yet last year, Iran still shipped 40% more oil than it had the year before. That’s only possible because Biden refused to enforce sanctions.
The way the Biden administration talks, it’s only thinking about loosening sanctions on Iran. That is false. Biden has already given Iran relief. Iran has made at least $15 billion that should have been off the table. And based on history, we know exactly where it is headed: more money for terrorists and millions that threaten America and our allies.
Congress recently mandated that Biden report the sanctions relief that would be going to terrorists, but Biden just announced he’ll ignore that law.
So, where is Iran’s oil going? To a who’s who of America’s adversaries — China, Russia, Venezuela, Syria. That’s a big problem. By refusing to enforce sanctions on Iran, the Biden administration is directly helping countries that want to undermine the U.S.
China is a case in point. Rather than stop Iran from shipping oil to China, the Biden administration decided to have a dialogue about it instead. That’s weakness, plain and simple, and it’s dangerous. Clearly, talking about it accomplished nothing. United Against Nuclear Iran, which tracks Iran’s oil exports, shows that Iranian oil trade to China was up by 62% as of November. Without consequences for its actions, communist China is sure to import even more Iranian oil this year.
Holding Iran accountable has never been more important. Even before Biden foolishly and sneakily took the pressure off Iran, the ayatollahs were continuing their march toward a nuclear weapon. They’ve also strengthened their support for terrorists while building advanced drones and a cyberwarfare operation.
Tehran has been more aggressive over the last year than at any time in recent memory. The regime has basically stopped cooperating with nuclear weapons inspectors. It now refuses to rule out enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels. Its scientists have completed nuclear work that has no civilian use, only military use. And all the while, Iran has been arming terrorists across the Middle East with powerful drones while holding Americans hostage and even plotting the kidnappings of American citizens on U.S. soil.
The right response to Iran’s aggression is strength and resolve — exactly the opposite of what Biden is doing. Instead of giving Iran relief, he should be taking stronger action, issuing stronger sanctions while enforcing existing ones, and making clear that the pressure will only ramp up until Iran changes its behavior.
It says a lot that Iran thinks it can get away with so much, including sanctioning me. It’s time for the Biden administration to show Iran that it can’t, starting with enforcing the law and stopping Iran’s oil shipments. Anything less is an insult to the public and a gift to an enemy who wants to destroy us.
Nikki Haley, a former two-term governor of South Carolina who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is a senior adviser to United Against Nuclear Iran.
