WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) led over 20 Members of Congress in a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling for the U.S. to deny visas for Iranian leaders visiting the United States. This urgent call comes as Iran continues to fund Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis and actively destabilize the Middle East. In 2014, the U.S. banned Iran’s United Nations Ambassador, and in 2020, they banned Iran’s Foreign Minister.

A copy of the letter can be found here.

 “It is a disgrace that Iranian officials, who help fund terrorism across the Middle East, are allowed to attend meetings at the United Nations. Three American soldiers were killed because of Iran’s murderous regime. The United States needs to show Iran that we will not tolerate its escalation against our country or our allies,” Moskowitz said.

“The regime in Tehran is the world’s largest State Sponsor of Terror. Its puppets continue to regularly target U.S. service members, including horrifically, the three young soldiers killed by an Iranian drone in Jordan. Regime terrorist puppets continue launching attacks on our ally Israel and global shipping in the Red Sea. Further, regime officials have carried out intelligence gathering and attempted assassinations on American soil. — A regime that proudly declares its intent “Death to America, Death to Israel,” should not be able to send its henchmen to America to enjoy the luxuries and freedoms they seek to destroy,” said Wilson.

The Iranian Regime has continued to support the destabilization of the entire region through funding, training, and supplying their terrorist proxy organizations. The barbaric October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was a stark wake-up call about the threats Iranian-backed terrorist groups pose to both Israelis and Americans. The regime also provides ideology that inculcates in its proxies the determination to kill innocents in the name of the Islamic Revolution. In addition to arming and funding their proxies within the region, the regime continues to expand its illicit oil trade, which has surged in recent years despite international sanctions and efforts in Iran that remain in place.

Iranian-backed groups have also launched attacks on U.S. forces across the Middle East. According to the Department of Defense, there have been more than 150 attacks on U.S. troops in the region since October 17, 2023, resulting in many injuries, including the deaths of three U.S. servicemembers on January 28, 2024. The Yemeni Houthis, funded by the regime, have continued to disrupt commercial shipping routes throughout the region and continue to launch missiles and suicide drones at U.S. ships and communities within southern Israel.

###