Shining a Light on Iranian Assets
Washington,
December 13, 2017 -
The House on Wednesday passed the bipartisan “Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act” (H.R. 1638), which would make public the assets of top political and military leaders in Iran and how those assets are being used.
Public reporting of the sources and uses of the concentrated wealth held by top Iranian leaders will help businesses throughout the world better choose legitimate business partners if they decide that doing business with Iran is in their interest.
“Iran is, the State Department tells us, a country that has ‘repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism’ and ‘continues to sponsor terrorist groups around the world, principally through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Members of Iran's senior political and military leadership have acquired significant personal and institutional wealth by using their positions to secure control of major portions of the Iranian national economy. Some estimates put their iron grip at a third or more of the country’s economy and some individual holdings in the billions of dollars, all at a time when the average Iranian citizen earns the equivalent of about $15,000 a year,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX). “The bill before us today – the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act – requires the Treasury Department to list the known assets of senior Iranian officials in a form that is easily understandable and accessible to individual Iranians, as well as to those in the financial or business sector who might be concerned about inadvertently doing business with a corrupt Iranian entity.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME), said “Iran’s top regime leaders—the Supreme Leader and the country’s top political and military brass—have amassed huge wealth through their tyrannical rule and corrupt and covert structure. Reports have indicated these funds are being used to support and sponsor terrorism around the region and to undermine our own national security interests. Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, cannot be trusted and it’s important for the security of the region and for the United States for these secret funds to be exposed publicly to the world.”
The bill passed the House 289-135.
