In fact, Iranian money can be found in the weapons warehouses in Syria, where the mullahs are desperately trying to prop up the Bashar Assad Regime, as well as in terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza respectively.

The increased Iranian funding for these terrorist groups is almost entirely linked to the 2015 Iran deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which opened up trading channels for Iran and unfroze Iranian assets held internationally, giving the Regime billions of dollars in one fell swoop.

The deal was supposed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, but the US and Iranian Resistance have been clear that Iran has not stopped and had just moved their operations underground.

The estimated breakdown of Iran’s terrorist sponsorship is:
• $4 billion to Syria
• $1 billion to Lebanon
• $70 million to the Islamic Jihad
• $50 million to Hamas in Gaza
• Hundreds of millions of dollars to Shi’ites in Iraq
• Tens of millions of dollars to Yemen

In all of these cases, Iran is supporting a terrorist group that threatens Western interests, the legitimate government there, or the people of that country and potentially all three. Reportedly, the money is moved from Iran to Iraq, then across to Yemen, into Syria, and then onwards to Hezbollah.

In order to stop terrorism in the Middle East, the international community must simply cut off the flow of money to Iran, which can be done easily by implementing US sanctions on the Gulf state before the situation gets worse. After all, the US already says that Iran is the largest state-sponsor of terrorism in the world.

The Iranian Regime is already publically talking about training Palestinian terrorists and meeting in Tehran with high-profile terrorists from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. How much longer can we wait?

It is high time for the UNSC to recognize, the Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah as Iran-backed terrorist groups and to sanction the groups and Iran.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: “The world’s silence allows Iran to continue with its operations and aggression to undermine stability in the Middle East… The European Union has taken a crucial step forward by imposing new sanctions against Iran. It is now the council’s turn to take a leap.”