In a troubling story that defies logic, companies that violate U.S. sanctions by doing business with a terrorist Middle Eastern nation have been rewarded with tens of billions of dollars in government contracts despite their repeated offenses.
The federal government has awarded more than $107 billion in contracts to firms that also enrich themselves by doing business with Iran, according to an in-depth newspaper article that quotes corporate records filed with the Securities Exchange Commission and congressional reports. Many of the companies have also made substantial investments that helped Iran develop its oil and gas reserves, the report says.
Iran is the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism, according to the State Department, and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are directly involved in the planning and support of terrorist acts throughout the region. The country provides aid to Palestinian terrorist groups, Lebanese Hizballah, Iraq-based militants, and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
These are certainly valid reasons for sanctions, though it's all for show since they aren't being enforced. Instead dozens of companies that enable the terrorist regime and profit from it are compensated with U.S. tax dollars even though their actions obviously clash with America's national security.
Many of the firms are deeply involved in the most vital elements of Iran's economy. More than two-thirds of the U.S. government contracts have gone to companies engaged in Iran's energy industry, which is a major source of revenue for the terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as the government in general.
At least one U.S. Senator is publicly outraged by the enormous contradiction and is working to pass legislation that would prohibit government contracts to foreign companies and foreign subsidies of American companies that do business with Iran. Offenders whose profits serve to fuel Iran's nuclear ambitions should not be allowed to do business with the U.S. under any circumstances, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand points out.
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