{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://kean.house.gov/media/press-releases/kean-and-moskowitz-send-letter-uk-foreign-secretary-ban-flights-threaten", "Kean and Moskowitz Send Letter to U.K. Foreign Secretary to Ban Flights that Threaten Ukrainian Security", "2023-11-07", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Thomas H. Kean, Jr.", "K000398", "kean.house.gov", "kean", "https://kean.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact: Dan Scharfenberger\n\n(November 7, 2023) WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, House Foreign Affairs, Europe Subcommittee Chairman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) and Congressman Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) sent a bipartisan letter to U.K. Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, urging that the United Kingdom ban flights from certain Iranian airlines to Heathrow Airport and other U.K. airports, due to reports that Iran is utilizing its commercial airlines to traffic munitions and other war materials to Russia.\n\nRussia has used Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack Ukrainian forces and destroy U.S.-supplied military equipment. The three Iranian airlines that flew those UAVs to Russia\u2014Mahan Air, Iran Air, and Qeshm Air\u2014also operate commercial flights to European airports.\n\nThis letter is supported by JINSA, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.\n\n\"Our allies and partners need to step up our sanctions regime on Iran wherever possible, especially when this kind of sanctions evasion fuels the Russian war effort against Ukraine,\" said Chairman Kean. \"The United Kingdom has been one of our oldest and strongest partners throughout history, and we all need to be together in countering Iran as it supports terror across the globe.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhether it\u2019s backing Hamas\u2019s deadly attacks against Israel or delivering lethal weapons for Russia\u2019s unprovoked war in Ukraine, Iran seeks to cause chaos and undermine American interests wherever possible,\u201d said Congressman Moskowitz. \u201cIt\u2019s imperative that our allies like the United Kingdom recognize the importance Iran plays in enabling Vladimir Putin\u2019s crimes against humanity. By banning flights from Iran Air, the UK can make a significant impact in the regime\u2019s ability to support Russia\u2019s war machine.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must bring a stop to the practice of European airports accepting the same planes the Iranian regime uses to illegally transport lethal weapons to Russia for their slaughter of Ukrainians,\u201d said Michael Makovsky, Ph.D., President & CEO, Jewish Institute for National Security of America. \u201cI applaud Reps. Tom Kean and Jared Moskowitz for their leadership on this important issue.\u201d\n\nCongressman Kean serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.\n\nYou can read the letter HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://kean.house.gov/media/press-releases/kean-and-moskowitz-send-letter-uk-foreign-secretary-ban-flights-threaten"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5000537969172, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}