US must crack down on countries allowing Iranians visa-free travel – opinion

Not every Iranian passport-holder, of course, is a regime agent, but the idea that the State Department allows Iranians to get so close with so few controls is problematic.

By Michael Rubin, Middle East Forum

Iranian officials have never hidden their desire for revenge.

Following President Donald Trump’s assassination of Qods Force chief Qassem Soleimani in the last weeks of Trump’s first term, Iranian authorities threatened revenge against Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other top members of his Iran team.

Following the February 28, 2026, decapitation strikes against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian authorities swore revenge. Every Trump family member—even his grandchildren—should be on notice.

Iran’s regime—if allowed to survive—will bide its time. It can wait until after next month’s mid-term elections or the next administration. Americans must be prepared.

The Iranian regime will not necessarily wait until American leaders travel abroad; it has shown an opportunity to operate on U.S. soil.

In 2003, a bartender alerted the FBI about suspicious questions an Iranian immigrant had asked about logistics while in the U.S. Army Reserve.

The FBI investigated and determined he had served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, though the government prosecuted him for lying on his immigration paperwork so as not to expose sources and methods.

In 2011, Manssor Arbabsiar, an Iranian American used-car dealer from Texas whose cousin, Gholam Shakuri, was a Qods Force officer in Iran, tried to hire a Mexican cartel hitman to kill Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States.

The hitman was a Drug Enforcement Agency informant, and so the FBI arrested Arbabsiar before he could bring the plot to fruition.

In 2021, Iranian intelligence sought to kidnap Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad and take her to Venezuela, then under the control of pro-Iran President Nicolás Maduro.

The following year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hired hitmen from the Azerbaijani mafia to kill Alinejad.

On July 12, 2024, the FBI arrested Asif Merchant, a Pakistani whom the Revolutionary Guard had tasked with hiring hitmen to kill Trump, President Joe Biden, or former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Even though the Iranian regime repeatedly shows its intent, many U.S. allies ease the infiltration of Iranian intelligence and Qods Force operatives close to the shores of the United States.

Haiti and Surinam each give Iranian passport holders visa-free entrance for 90 days. The Caribbean island nation of Dominica offers Iranians three-week stays without a visa.

In the Pacific, Micronesia allows Iranians 30-day visa-free entry, and Palau gives Iranians a free visa on arrival.

While these countries are not alone in expediting Iranian arrivals, their policies endanger the United States either because of their proximity or due to the United States’ own permissive relationship to them.

Direct commercial flights between the Surinamese capital, Paramaribo, and the United States are rare due to soft demand, but there are about 28 weekly Caribbean Airlines flights between Paramaribo and JFK International Airport in New York via Trinidad and another 19 Copa flights via Panama.

If Iranians can enter Surinam—and they can, easily—it is not difficult for them to swap passports and infiltrate the United States.

Meanwhile, there are ten weekly American Airlines or United Airlines flights between Dominica and both Miami and Newark and eight more to either the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico.

Flights from Haiti attract more Immigration and Customs Enforcement attention, but there are still 20 flights from Cap-Haïtien to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Newark, or Boston.

Micronesia and Palau are more distant but their willingness to accept Iranians without visas is more dangerous due to their relationship with the United States.

Both are sovereign states in “free association” with the United States. Washington runs their defense and excludes other militaries.

In return, the United States offers aid and lets their citizens live and work in the United States without visas.

While there are passport checks on the island-hopper flights that transit small Pacific islands, entering Guam or Hawaii from Micronesia or Palau is not much different than crossing the Canada-United States frontier.

Turkey and Qatar are also problematic. Turkey offers visa-free access for Iranians, and Qatar offers visas on arrival.

The airlines of both countries serve a dozen or more U.S. cities with direct flights, enabling an easy path for Iranian infiltrators.

Not every Iranian passport-holder, of course, is a regime agent, but the idea that the State Department allows Iranians to get so close with so few controls is problematic.

In fiscal year 2025, the United States gave Haiti $337 million, although this has been slashed by 80 percent so far this year.

Surinam and Dominica both receive funds through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.

In March 2024, the Biden administration signed a 20-year Compact amendment committing the United States to give Micronesia $3.3 billion and Palau $889 million through 2047.

The United States need not coerce countries into banning Iranians’ entry, but Congress should direct the State Department to ensure that aid depends on countries requiring Iranians to apply for visas in advance.

Likewise, the Trump administration should not allow any airlines to fly directly to the United States if their countries of departure do not require Iranians to acquire visas in advance. It is just common sense.