On February 11, AFPC Vice President Ilan Berman was one of three experts called to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence regarding the evolving nature of the threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the U.S. homeland.
In his remarks, Berman highlighted that the challenge posed by Iran to the United States and American strategic interests has not abated with the conclusion of the new nuclear deal (formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA). In fact, he contended, in many ways it has significantly worsened as a result of the enormous economic windfall inherent in the agreement.
"As part of the terms of the JCPOA, the United States and its partners in the P5+1 agreed to release to Iran some $100 billion in previously escrowed oil revenue,” Berman told lawmakers.This enormous stimulus is likely to be used by the Iranian regime “on key strategic initiatives,” he said — among them military modernization, rogue state sponsorship, the sponsorship of international terrorism, and regional expansionism. “In the context of the United States homeland,” Berman pointed out, “these dangers are likely to be most pronounced in two distinct arenas.”
The first is Latin America, where Iran has expanded its strategic presence significantly over the past decade, thanks to burgeoning ties to a range of anti-American regimes (including Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador). These ties are now poised to grow still further. “Given the priority attention that has been paid to Latin America by Iran in recent years, it is reasonable to expect that the Iranian regime will use its expanded resources to broaden and further solidify its footprint in the Western Hemisphere,” Berman contended.
The second is cyberspace. “Cyberspace is fast emerging as a new domain of conflict between Iran and the West,” Berman noted, and while the Iranian regime has muted its cyber-activism over the past two years as it pursued international diplomacy with the West, Iran’s hostile activities are again on the rise. With “the economic benefits of the JCPOA - which will increase the resources available to the regime to invest in its strategic capabilities - the Islamic Republic is poised to become an increasingly mature and formidable cyber power,” he concluded. “In the process, it will invariably emerge as a serious cyber challenge for the United States.”
