- The Washington Times - Thursday, October 26, 2023

Sen. John Kennedy says President Biden is mishandling Iran’s aggression against the U.S., saying it’s time to reissue sanctions against Tehran.

The Louisiana Republican shared his criticism of Mr. Biden for not enforcing sanctions on Iran’s oil production with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow on Wednesday, saying Iran produces about a million barrels a day

Iran keeps biting our hand,” Mr. Kennedy said. “In the last couple weeks — you’ve mentioned it — Iran has attacked American assets 16 times. We’ve done nothing. And President Biden in response keeps giving them money.”

He also criticized Mr. Biden’s decision to unfreeze $6 billion in a prisoner swap deal with Iran. The money has since been refrozen after the connection was made between Iran and the attacks on Israel by terrorist groups.

“Unless you think there is an award for being stupid, you understand that peace through weakness never works with the people like the Ayatollah,” he said of Iran’s supreme leader. “The Ayatollah — they hate Americans. He hates Jewish people, he wants to kill all of us and drink our blood out of a boot.”

“And you can’t say, ‘Well, we can sit down and reason.’ They just respect strength,” he said.

Mr. Kennedy reintroduced his “No Dollars for Dictators Act” last week, an initiative that he first brought up in 2021. The bill would stop state sponsors of terrorism from receiving drawing rights through the International Monetary Fund without congressional authorization, citing Iran, China and Russia as benefiting from the IMF.

“I understand why [Biden’s] acting as he is — I don’t agree with him,” Mr. Kennedy said to Mr. Kudlow. “He’s scared — he’s scared of Iran. He thinks that, well, we don’t want this to escalate. Well, the Iranians interpret that as weakness. Sometimes, you got to stand up for yourself.”

“Stop giving them money,” he said. “All these acts of terrorism cost money. He should at a minimum stop that.”

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.

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