“To require a strategy to counter Iranian and Hezbollah influence operations in Latin America.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section requires the Secretary of State, not later than 180 days after enactment, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees (i.e., House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations) a comprehensive strategy to counter Iran’s and Hezbollah’s propaganda, missionary networks, and influence operations in Latin America, in unclassified form with a possible classified annex. The strategy must include (1) measures to address Iranian cultural centers promoting Iranian ideology, such as diplomatic efforts to limit operations, sanctions on affiliates, and public diplomacy to expose activities; (2) actions to restrict travel and activities of Iranian emissaries (e.g., diplomats, cultural attaches) via visa denials, sanctions, or other restrictions; (3) initiatives to strengthen U.S. intelligence capacity to identify, monitor, and disrupt such networks, including those cooperating with academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations; (4) a framework to disrupt Iran’s HispanTV and Hezbollah’s Al Mayadeen Espanol platforms (similar to actions against Al-Manar and Press TV), through sanctions, designations, and regional cooperation to limit broadcasting and digital presence; and (5) a plan to address Iran’s Al Mustafa International University network, including designations as foreign terrorist organizations or specially designated global terrorists as appropriate.