Congressional Hearing: “Threat to the Homeland: Iran’s Extending Influence in the Western Hemisphere”
07/17/13
Latin America and the Caribbean
This post was written by CIP intern Victor Salcedo
In recent years, the United States Congress has been paying close attention to the presence of Iran in Latin America. While both the State Department and United States Southern Command posit that there appears to be no imminent threat of a terrorist attack, members of Congress, particularly the House Republicans, have shown consistent concern about Iran’s ties to the region. Their concern especially relates to Iran’s relationship with countries that maintain cool relationships with the United States.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency held a hearing, “Threat to the Homeland: Iran’s Extending Influence in the Western Hemisphere.” The witnesses were Ilan Berman,Vice President, American Foreign Policy Council, Joseph M. Humire, Executive Director, Center for a Secure Free Society, Blaise Misztal Acting Director of Foreign Policy Bipartisan Policy Center, and Douglas Farah, President, IBI Consultants.
All witness testimonies and opening remarks can be found here.
Alberto Nisman, Argentine government prosecutor, was expected to be the main witness to appear in the hearing. However, for undisclosed reasons, the Argentine government barred Nisman from testifying, drawing criticism from both Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC). In a letter to Argentina’s President Kirchner following her decision, both representatives wrote, "Considering both our countries have suffered terrorist attacks from agents affiliated with the government of Iran, we have a unique motivation for being vigilant." On July 10, members of Congress sent a Letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, calling for the U.S. to sanction Argentina for its ties to Iran. "In light of Argentina’s growing cooperation with Iran and recent decision to deny Nisman to testify before the U.S. Congress, we believe that the U.S. should reconsider its legal support to Argentina,” read the letter (PDF).
Opening Remarks
Rep. Jeff Duncan was the only member present for the final 40 minutes of the hearing and made clear that he was very concerned about the refusal of the United States government to see Iran’s presence in the region as a threat to homeland security.
- Iran and Argentina: Although the U.S. Department of State noted in an unclassified summary of a report released in late June that “Iranian influence in Latin American and the Caribbean is waning,” Rep. Duncan reiterated that he continues to be concerned about Iranian activities and the potential for a terrorist attack. He highlighted Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s recent study that links Iran to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), which killed 85 people and injured over 300. The report also claimed Iran has been “infiltrating” Latin American countries to ”sponsor, foster and execute terrorist attacks.” In May of this year, Iran approved a memorandum of understanding with Argentina on forming a truth commission to investigate the bombing.
- Given the recent thaw in relations between Argentina and Iran, Duncan asked Douglas Farah, President of IBI consultants, if he believed “that Argentina wants to assist Iran in its illicit nuclear activities.” Mr. Farah responded by noting that Argentina has a history of training Iran in nuclear technologies and that it would like to restart training, but did not know what its motive to do so would be. He also said that Iran would like to “get its hands” on Argentina’s technology, as the country has a robust nuclear as well as a robust space program.
- Iranian nationals in Latin American: Rep. Duncan also brought up the apparent lack of security of U.S borders, which he insisted could be penetrated by Iranian nationals that roam freely in Latin America with “fraudulent passports and other false documentation.”
Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Representative Michael McCaul, shared Rep. Duncan’s concerns about the “Iranian threat,” adding that it was “a slap in the face” that Argentina did not grant Mr. Nisman permission to attend.
- Rep. McCaul said that when he traveled to Argentina to see where the AMIA bombing took place, he became aware of the discrepancies between the information given by the U.S. State Department, which has “downplayed” the threat of Iran versus other intelligence services (although did not name which ones) that assess Iran to be “a much greater existential threat to the United States in the Western Hemisphere.”
Witness Testimonies:
Ilan Berman, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council
- Increasing Iranian presence: Mr. Berman argued that diplomatic relations between Iran and many Latin American countries has increased over the past decade. According to Berman, “has more than doubled its diplomatic presence in the region over the past decade, increasing its embassies from five in 2005 to eleven today.”
- Bypassing Sanctions:According to Mr. Berman, Iran has been able to bypass sanctions because of its economic ties to countries in the region. He highlighted its relationship with Venezuela, which dates back to 2005 when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Hugo Chávez first established partnerships. “With the active cooperation of Caracas, the Iranian government has exploited the Venezuelan financial sector -- via joint financial institutions, shell companies and lax banking practices -- to continue to access the global economy in spite of mounting Western sanctions,” he added.
- Relationship with Venezuela’s new president: Rep. Duncan asked Mr. Berman if he saw “the relationship between Tehran and Caracas evolving under this new government [of President Maduro].” Mr. Berman responded that Nicolas Maduro could be expected to be sympathetic about continuing good relations with Iran. Nonetheless, he stressed that there is no guarantee the new government in Iran would continue to make Latin America a high priority.
Berman added, while “Latin America does not rank at the highest level of Iranian foreign policy,” it is certainly important enough for the Iranian government to take the region into consideration for the benefit of several Iranian programs.
Joseph M. Humire, Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society
Leftist Alliances: Mr. Humire expressed concern about the active role of certain ALBA nations (Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador) with Iran. He said that ALBA provided cover for the irregular activities that Iran carried out in the region, and that it was also “complicit in helping Iran propagate terrorist networks, skirt sanctions and initiate a military industrial footprint in the Hemisphere.” He also argued that Iran is using proxy non-state actors, such as Hezbollah and converted Latin American Muslims, to infiltrate Latin America.
For Humire, the creation of an alternative banking and virtual currency, the Unified System of Regional Compensation (Sistema Unico de Compensación Regional) (SUCRE), “affords Iran the ability to leverage its financials activity in Latin America through one principle entity, minimizing the risk.”
Humire recommended that the United States:
- Counter ALBA’s influence in the region by supporting the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico).
- Direct U.S. Homeland Security to work with countries such as Brazil to implement anti-terrorist legislation.
- Work with Panamanian officials to provide better intelligence about Iranian boats passing through the Canal.
- Work with Canada to strengthen screening and identifying of “Visa applications coming from ALBA countries.”
Blaise Misztal, Acting Director of Foreign Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center:
Mr. Misztal presented a more skeptical account when compared to the other witnesses and offered political and economic reasons why notions of the “Iran Threat” are debatable.
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Economic ties to Latin America are not a threat: According to Misztal, the fact that Iran is seeking Latin America’s help signals the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to isolate the country. “At the same time, Iran’s own political and economic isolation, as a result of sanctions, will drive it ever more desperately to seek friends and money wherever it can. In this way, we should understand Iran’s interest in strengthening diplomatic and economic ties with Latin America as perhaps a sign of the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to isolate it.”
In terms of economic exchange, Misztal said the relationship between Iran and some Latin American nations is more “symbolic than substantive,” noting that the actual amount of trade occurring between Latin American countries and the Islamic nation is less than expected. He gave the example of Venezuela:
Venezuela does not even rank among Iran’s top fifty trade partners, and in 2011 Venezuela imported less than $14 million of Iranian goods, ranking below countries like Afghanistan, Georgia, and Guatemala. Additionally, Venezuela in 2011 was ranked as Iran’s 48th largest export partner at $8 million… Furthermore, trade volume between Iran and Latin America’s largest economy behind Brazil, Mexico is a dismal $50 million. Given these statistics, the perceived threat of Iran’s growing economic influence in the region is largely unsubstantiated.
- No imminent threat of terrorist attack: Misztal pointed out that although Iran “is the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism,” the government’s “tactical use of terror has of late tended toward retaliatory attacks.” He suggested that Iran had a “concern for not provoking a U.S. military reprisal that would disrupt its nuclear program.”
- Mr. Misztal recommended the U.S. government support more intelligence sharing between nations and improvements of local police forces to detect terrorist cells.
Douglas Farah, President of IBI consultants
Douglas Farah echoed Joseph Humire’s concerns about ALBA countries that oppose the U.S. supporting Iran, claiming its presence in the region was growing as a result.
- Iran’s direct and indirect relationships: Mr. Farah stated in his testimony that the extent of the Iranian influence oscillates directly and indirectly in the Western Hemisphere. Direct relationships that translate to political, economic, and cultural exchanges with Iran are increasing; but indirect relations, which Mr. Farah highlighted as a type of relationship between Iran and a third governmental or non-governmental institution, are beginning to be more noticeable. Farah said that non-state actors include “NGOs tied to Hezbollah and often funded by Venezuelan oil money; Islamic cultural centers and mosques … and links to drug trafficking organizations that provide millions of dollars to support radical Islamist activities.”
- Existing examples of terrorism: For Mr. Farah, the AMIA bombing showed Iran has a “long-standing, highly developed structure in Latin America whose primary purpose is to fuse state and non-state force to spread the Iranian revolution.” He went on to point to three more examples that show Iran has engaged in specific attempts to carry out terrorist attacks inside the United States. This included the October 2011 plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. that was foiled when a naturalized U.S. citizen who was also a member of Iranian Qods Force (a special operations unit) contacted an alleged member of Mexico’s Zeta cartel who turned out to be an informant.
- Training: Mr. Farah underscored that a handful of Latin Americans have been trained in Qom, Iran. He shared insight of Salvadorian students that had received training there, and noted that most of the recruitment is often done in mosques and cultural centers:
Most [recruits] are present with the opportunity to attend ‘revolutionary’ indoctrination courses in Venezuela dealing with revolutionary ideology. These meetings bring together several hundred students at one time from across Latin America, all with their travel fess and expenses paid by the Venezuelan government.
Farah recommended Congress get help from the Treasury Department to weaken Iran’s banking activities in the region that allow it to “move hundreds of million of dollars into the world market.” He also recommended the U.S. closely follow the deals and agreements between Argentina, Venezuela, and Iran.