II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3783 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012 

Received 

AN ACT 

To provide for a comprehensive strategy to counter Iran’s 

growing hostile presence and activity in the Western 

Hemisphere, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Iran in 

3 the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The United States has vital political, eco7 nomic, and security interests in the Western Hemi8 sphere. 

9 (2) Iran is pursuing cooperation with Latin 

10 American countries by signing economic and security 

11 agreements in order to create a network of diplo12 matic and economic relationships to lessen the blow 

13 of international sanctions and oppose Western at14 tempts to constrict its ambitions. 

15 (3) According to the Department of State, 

16 Hezbollah, with Iran as its state sponsor, is consid17 ered the ‘‘most technically capable terrorist group in 

18 the world’’ with ‘‘thousands of supporters, several 

19 thousand members, and a few hundred terrorist 

20 operatives,’’ and officials from the Iranian Islamic 

21 Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force 

22 have been working in concert with Hezbollah for 

23 many years. 

24 (4) The IRGC’s Qods Force has a long history 

25 of supporting Hezbollah’s military, paramilitary, and 

26 terrorist activities, providing it with guidance, fundVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:20 Dec 13, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.RDS H3783

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1 ing, weapons, intelligence, and logistical support, 

2 and in 2007, the Department of the Treasury placed 

3 sanctions on the IRGC and its Qods Force for their 

4 support of terrorism and proliferation activities. 

5 (5) The IRGC’s Qods Force stations operatives 

6 in foreign embassies, charities, and religious and cul7 tural institutions to foster relationships, often build8 ing on existing socioeconomic ties with the well es9 tablished Shia Diaspora, and recent years have wit10 nessed an increased presence in Latin America. 

11 (6) According to the Department of Defense, 

12 the IRGC and its Qods Force played a significant 

13 role in some of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the 

14 past two decades, including the 1994 attack on the 

15 AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, 

16 by generally directing or supporting the groups that 

17 actually executed the attacks. 

18 (7) Reports of Iranian intelligence agents being 

19 implicated in Hezbollah-linked activities since the 

20 early 1990s suggest direct Iranian government sup21 port of Hezbollah activities in the Tri-Border Area 

22 of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, and in the past 

23 decade, Iran has dramatically increased its diplo24 matic missions to Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ec25 uador, Argentina, and Brazil. Iran has built 17 culVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:20 Dec 13, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.RDS H3783

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1 tural centers in Latin America, and it currently 

2 maintains 11 embassies, up from 6 in 2005. 

3 (8) Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies with a 

4 presence in Latin America have raised revenues 

5 through illicit activities, including drug and arms 

6 trafficking, counterfeiting, money laundering, forg7 ing travel documents, pirating software and music, 

8 and providing haven and assistance to other terror9 ists transiting the region. 

10 (9) Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and 

11 Venezuela expressed their intention to assist Iran in 

12 evading sanctions by signing a statement supporting 

13 Iran’s nuclear activities and announcing at a 2010 

14 joint press conference in Tehran their determination 

15 to ‘‘continue and expand their economic ties to Iran’’ 

16 with confidence that ‘‘Iran can give a crushing re17 sponse to the threats and sanctions imposed by the 

18 West and imperialism’’. 

19 (10) The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administra20 tion concluded in 2008 that almost one-half of the 

21 foreign terrorist organizations in the world are 

22 linked to narcotics trade and trafficking, including 

23 Hezbollah and Hamas. 

24 (11) In October 2011, the United States 

25 charged two men, Manssor Arbabsiar, a United 


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1 States citizen holding both Iranian and United 

2 States passports, and Gholam Shakuri, an Iran3 based member of Iran’s IRGC Qods Force, with con4 spiracy to murder a foreign official using explosives 

5 in an act of terrorism. Arbabsiar traveled to Mexico 

6 with the express intent to hire ‘‘someone in the nar7 cotics business’’ to carry out the assassination of the 

8 Saudi Arabian Ambassador in the United States. 

9 While in the end, he only engaged a U.S. Drug En10 forcement Agency informant posing as an associate 

11 of a drug trafficking cartel, Arbabsiar believed that 

12 he was working with a member of a Mexican drug 

13 trafficking organization and sought to send money 

14 to this individual in installments and not in a single 

15 transfer. 

16 (12) In February 2011, actions by the Depart17 ment of the Treasury effectively shut down the Leb18 anese Canadian Bank. Subsequent actions by the 

19 United States Government in connection with the in20 vestigation into Lebanese Canadian Bank resulted in 

21 the indictment in December 2011 of Ayman 

22 Joumaa, an individual of Lebanese nationality, with 

23 citizenship in Lebanon and Colombia, and with ties 

24 to Hezbollah, for trafficking cocaine to the Los 

25 Zetas drug trafficking organization in Mexico City 


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1 for sale in the United States and for laundering the 

2 proceeds. 

3 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

4 It shall be the policy of the United States to use a 

5 comprehensive government-wide strategy to counter Iran’s 

6 growing hostile presence and activity in the Western 

7 Hemisphere by working together with United States allies 

8 and partners in the region to mutually deter threats to 

9 United States interests by the Government of Iran, the 

10 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the 

11 IRGC’s Qods Force, and Hezbollah. 

12 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) WESTERN HEMISPHERE.—The term ‘‘West15 ern Hemisphere’’ means the United States, Canada, 

16 Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, and Central 

17 America. 

18 (2) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit20 tees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

21 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

22 Foreign Relations of the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT OF A STRATEGY TO ADDRESS IRAN’S 

2 GROWING HOSTILE PRESENCE AND ACTIVITY 

3 IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

6 shall conduct an assessment of the threats posed to the 

7 United States by Iran’s growing presence and activity in 

8 the Western Hemisphere and submit to the relevant con9 gressional committees the results of the assessment and 

10 a strategy to address Iran’s growing hostile presence and 

11 activity in the Western Hemisphere. 

12 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy de13 scribed in subsection (a) should include— 

14 (1) a description of the presence, activities, and 

15 operations of Iran, the Iranian Islamic Revolu16 tionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its Qods Force, 

17 Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations linked 

18 to Iran that may be present in the Western Hemi19 sphere, including information about their leaders, 

20 objectives, and areas of influence and information on 

21 their financial networks, trafficking activities, and 

22 safe havens; 

23 (2) a description of the terrain, population, 

24 ports, foreign firms, airports, borders, media outlets, 

25 financial centers, foreign embassies, charities, reli26 gious and cultural centers, and income-generating 


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1 activities in the Western Hemisphere utilized by 

2 Iran, the IRGC, its Qods Force, Hezbollah, and 

3 other terrorist organizations linked to Iran that may 

4 be present in the Western Hemisphere; 

5 (3) a description of the relationship of Iran, the 

6 IRGC, its Qods Force, and Hezbollah with 

7 transnational criminal organizations linked to Iran 

8 and other terrorist organizations in the Western 

9 Hemisphere, including information on financial net10 works and trafficking activities; 

11 (4) a description of the relationship of Iran, the 

12 IRGC, its Qods Force, Hezbollah, and other ter13 rorist organizations linked to Iran that may be 

14 present in the Western Hemisphere with the govern15 ments in the Western Hemisphere, including mili16 tary-to-military relations and diplomatic, economic, 

17 and security partnerships and agreements; 

18 (5) a description of the Federal law enforce19 ment capabilities, military forces, State and local 

20 government institutions, and other critical elements, 

21 such as nongovernmental organizations, in the West22 ern Hemisphere that may organize to counter the 

23 threat posed by Iran, the IRGC, its Qods Force, 

24 Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations linked 


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1 to Iran that may be present in the Western Hemi2 sphere; 

3 (6) a description of activity by Iran, the IRGC, 

4 its Qods Force, Hezbollah, and other terrorist orga5 nizations linked to Iran that may be present at the 

6 United States borders with Mexico and Canada and 

7 at other international borders within the Western 

8 Hemisphere, including operations related to drug, 

9 human, and arms trafficking, human support net10 works, financial support, narco-tunneling, and tech11 nological advancements that incorporates— 

12 (A) with respect to the United States bor13 ders, in coordination with the Governments of 

14 Mexico and Canada and the Secretary of Home15 land Security, a plan to address resources, tech16 nology, and infrastructure to create a secure 

17 United States border and strengthen the ability 

18 of the United States and its allies to prevent 

19 operatives from Iran, the IRGC, its Qods 

20 Force, Hezbollah, or any other terrorist organi21 zation from entering the United States; and 

22 (B) within Latin American countries, a 

23 multiagency action plan, in coordination with 

24 United States allies and partners in the region, 

25 that includes the development of strong rule-ofVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:20 Dec 13, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3783.RDS H3783

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1 law institutions to provide security in such 

2 countries and a counterterrorism and counter3 radicalization plan to isolate Iran, the IRGC, its 

4 Qods Force, Hezbollah, and other terrorist or5 ganizations linked to Iran that may be present 

6 in the Western Hemisphere from their sources 

7 of financial support and counter their facilita8 tion of terrorist activity; and 

9 (7) a plan— 

10 (A) to address any efforts by foreign per11 sons, entities, and governments in the region to 

12 assist Iran in evading United States and inter13 national sanctions; 

14 (B) to protect United States interests and 

15 assets in the Western Hemisphere, including 

16 embassies, consulates, businesses, energy pipe17 lines, and cultural organizations, including 

18 threats to United States allies; 

19 (C) to support United States efforts to 

20 designate persons and entities in the Western 

21 Hemisphere for proliferation activities and ter22 rorist activities relating to Iran, including affili23 ates of the IRGC, its Qods Force, and 

24 Hezbollah, under applicable law including the 


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1 International Emergency Economic Powers Act; 

2 and 

3 (D) to address the vital national security 

4 interests of the United States in ensuring en5 ergy supplies from the Western Hemisphere 

6 that are free from the influence of any foreign 

7 government that would attempt to manipulate 

8 or disrupt global energy markets. 

9 (c) DEVELOPMENT.—In developing the strategy 

10 under this section, the Secretary of State shall consult 

11 with the heads of all appropriate United States depart12 ments and agencies, including the Secretary of Defense, 

13 the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security, the Secretary of the Treasury, the At15 torney General, and the United States Trade Representa16 tive. 

17 (d) FORM.—The strategy under this section shall be 

18 submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classi19 fied annex if necessary. 

20 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State 

22 should keep the relevant congressional committees contin23 ually informed on the hostile actions of Iran in the West24 ern Hemisphere. 


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1 SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the 

3 rights or protections enjoyed by United States citizens 

4 under the United States Constitution or other Federal 

5 law, or to create additional authorities for the Federal 

6 Government that are contrary to the United States Con7 stitution and United States law. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 19, 

2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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