Biden Administration Gave ‘Free Pass’ To $1B Iranian Oil Smuggling Operation: Report

The Biden administration reportedly ignored oil smuggling that netted Iran an estimated one billion dollars annually — despite being well-informed on the operation.

A group of international Intelligence agencies compiled a 45-page report in April outlining a billion-dollar Iranian oil smuggling operation and shared the information with officials from the State and Treasury departments as well as members of the U.S. intelligence community, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

U.S. officials took multiple briefings on the report that showed Iran earning at least $1 billion annually from selling oil through Iraqi intermediaries. The Biden administration did not act on the information and gave Iran a “free pass” to sell its fuel in violation of U.S. sanctions, one former U.S. official told the Free Beacon.

“Despite Iran’s growing and dominant role in Iraq, the Biden administration has refused to sanction or meaningfully confront their role in an effort to protect the current Iraqi prime minister, Sudani, and to portray Iraq as a constructive regional partner,” one former U.S. official said.

“This approach deliberately ignores the reality that Iran and its proxies effectively control Iraq’s institutions, including the industrial fuel smuggling and crude commingling. It’s as if the Biden administration wants to hide the fact that Iraq remains Iran’s most important client state,” the official added.

Reuters reported early last month that the oil smuggling scheme netted Iran at least $1 billion a year since 2022 when Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took office. Some estimates showed Iran earning as much as $3 billion annually.

A State Department official at the time said that U.S. officials had spoken with Iraqi officials about the operation and its illegality under U.S. sanctions.

“While we do not comment on specific discussions, we can affirm the Department has emphasized with our Iraqi counterparts the harms of illicit trade and our support for bringing oil transparently to market,” the official told Reuters.

U.S. officials reportedly learned of the illicit oil selling scheme just months after Hamas, one of the groups in Tehran’s extensive terror network, invaded Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people while taking hundreds more captive.

Sanctions on Iran administered by President Trump during his first term wrecked Iran financially, but Tehran regained some of its wealth, an estimated $200 billion worth, selling oil after the Biden administration took over. Those funds have been used in part to support Iran’s terror proxies, including Hezbollah and the Houthis.