Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act reintroduced to crack down on financial institutions connected to Iran

With the war between Hamas and Israel dragging attention on Iran once more to the fore, U.S. Reps. French Hill (R-AR) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) reintroduced the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act this week, seeking new means to crackdown on their financial support.

“The Iranian regime has been funding terror for far too long,” Hill said. “Hamas is a creature of Iranian money and training, and the recent barbaric terrorist attacks against Israel necessitate retaliation against Hamas’ enabler, Iran.”

Foremost, the bill would require the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress on financial institutions involvement with officials in the Iranian government. Those financial institutions so entangled would have to close accounts connected to said officials, but for Congress, Vargas and Hill argued that the moves would also provide a valuable window into the business practices of the Middle East nation’s leaders.

“Iran has spent decades funding terrorism against the United States and our allies,” Vargas said. “According to the Central Intelligence Agency and the Director of National Intelligence, Iran positions its proxies to destabilize the Middle East, create chaos, and escalate humanitarian crises. We need a bipartisan front to protect our nation, defend our allies, and assist innocent civilians in the Middle East.”

Prior attempts at the bill were made in 2020 and again in 2021.