American trade with Iran jumped 43 percent last year, reaching more than $81 million at a time when Tehran’s hardline regime ramped up its terrorist efforts and wreaked havoc across the Middle East, according to a non-public State Department report provided to Congress and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
The significant jump in trade relations suggests the Biden-Harris administration is bypassing tough American sanctions on Tehran in order to stimulate its flagging economy and provide the hardline regime with a financial lifeline.
The United States imported $22.3 million in goods from Iran in 2023 and exported $59 million, accounting for $81.3 million in total trade between the countries, according to the State Department report, which was submitted to Congress earlier this week. Overall trade between the United States and Iran rose by more than $24 million from 2022 to 2023, marking a 43 percent increase, according to figures published in the report.
At the same time, Iranian trade with China, one of its closest allies, fell by 7 percent over the same period, indicating the Biden-Harris administration is picking up some of the slack. The report also omitted statistics on Russia’s trade with Iran, with the State Department saying these figures could not be produced.
The report, which is unclassified but not disseminated publicly, is driving concerns on Capitol Hill, with GOP critics seeing it as further evidence of the Biden-Harris administration’s bid to boost diplomacy with Tehran as it wages a multi-front war on Israel. The United States has repeatedly bypassed sanctions to help Iran access upwards of $100 billion in cash resources, money that lawmakers say is fueling Tehran’s aggression in the Middle East, including Iran-backed terror group Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state.
"It’s no surprise that the Iranian regime was able to engage and pay for increased trade with the U.S., and to bolster their economy more broadly," Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the Free Beacon. "Indeed, regime outlets have been bragging that trade with the U.S. has doubled again in the first quarter of 2024. Iran then uses their financial and economic strength to conduct terrorism around the world, including terrorism directly targeting Americans."
U.S. trade with Iran primarily consists of "agricultural goods, medicine, and medical devices," according to a footnote in the State Department’s report. These exports are facilitated through licenses granted under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, which eased trade restrictions on humanitarian goods. Imports from Iran are allowed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which has the power to waive certain sanctions for national security reasons.
The State Department declined to comment on its findings and would not provide further information about the nature of U.S. trade with Iran, including exactly what goods are being exchanged. A State Department official directed the Free Beacon to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, but they did not respond to a request for comment with similar questions.
In addition to the United States, Iranian trade with the United Kingdom jumped by 66 percent from 2022 to 2023. This includes $116 million in imports from Iran and $76 million in exports, according to the report, which does not detail exactly what goods are being exchanged.
"Since the last reporting period," the State Department wrote, "overall G20 trade with Iran decreased 14 percent, representing a $5 billion decrease." The increase in trade between the United States and United Kingdom appeared to be an outlier from the overall trend in 2023.
Additionally, "Saudi Arabia nearly quadrupled its trade with Iran from $5 million to $24.8 million," indicating the historically chilly relationship between the two regional powers is thawing in some respects.
While Iran’s trade with China fell slightly from 2022 to 2023, it still "makes up 48 percent of Iran’s trade with the G20," according to the report.
Republicans such as Cruz say the findings suggest the United States is easing its trade embargo on Iran.
"The Biden-Harris administration has done everything they can to flood the Ayatollah with cash and facilitate the regime’s ability to finance terrorism," the senator said. "They’ve refused to enforce sanctions, waived other sanctions, and worked with banks around the world to free up and transfer Iranian assets."
Iran’s oil revenues, a key source of cash for the regime, have topped more than $90 billion since the Biden-Harris administration came to power and began easing sanctions on Tehran’s energy sector.
The administration has also repeatedly issued a sanctions waiver that permits Iraq to pay Iran for electricity imports representing around $10 billion for the regime. It is believed this cash helps Tehran finance its regional terror proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, which are both still waging war on Israel.