Iran funded up to 24 militant groups, US Interior Secretary says
US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Wednesday Iran funded as many as 24 militant groups and described Washington’s policy as an effort to cut off what he called terrorism financing through an intensified economic and energy pressure campaign.
Doug Burgum made the remarks in an interview with broadcaster Hugh Hewitt, saying Iran should be viewed as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operating an oil-based state, and arguing that US measures are aimed at blocking funding for regional and global proxy groups.
"Iran, which basically, it’s not, we should stop calling it Iran. We should just call it the IRGC. We’ve got a terrorist organization with an oil field, and they’ve been militarily defeated, as President Trump describes. But now, with Scott Bessent, with Economic Fury, we have to stop them from being able to fund terrorism and fund exporting terrorism around the world," Burgum said.
"I mean, they were funding as many as 24 different terror groups with oil money. So the blockade is not just a physical blockade, it’s also an economic blockade to ensure that they don’t have the cash to keep raining terror and holding the whole world hostage," he added.
