The Senate took its first major step in fulfilling one of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s biggest desires: levying bone-crushing sanctions against Russia.

A bipartisan swell carried the sanctions package through its first hurdle on an 86-12 vote, which has gone through several iterations in the time since it was first formulated by Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. He explained that at its core, the package was designed to stop purchases of Russian oil and gas that was «fueling Putin’s war machine.» 

«Ukraine’s fight is our fight,» Blumenthal said. «Nobody believed that more deeply and passionately than Lindsey Graham. He lived it, and this vote is a step forward.»

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S FINAL MISSION NEARS FINISH LINE AS WORLD LEADERS GATHER TO HONOR HIM

The colossal vote also marks a huge victory on the floor for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who over the summer has managed to pass or advance two major bills with a massive wave of bipartisan support on the Senate floor, even during starkly partisan times in upper chamber. 

And the package that survived Tuesday night, just hours after lawmakers, world leaders and family said their last Washington, D.C., goodbyes to the longtime senator has once again been revamped.

A bipartisan group led by Blumenthal and Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who picked up her older brother’s sanctions crusade, announced that a deal had been reached to rename the package in honor of the late lawmaker, and tack on additional sanctions against Iran.

Lawmakers argue that the best way to remember Graham, and cement his legacy into law, is to pass the newly-minted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, particularly as a symbol of his ferocious support for Ukraine.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S SISTER CARRIES ON LATE SENATOR’S WORK, BECOMING SOUTH CAROLINA’S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital that «literally the first conversation I ever had with Lindsey Graham was about Russia sanctions.»

«I know he was very passionate about this and I know that sanctions are one of the best tools we have for bringing wars to an end without having to commit any of our military,» Husted said.

The bill, as Blumenthal noted, still focuses on kneecapping Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort by targeting Moscow’s top financial gainer: oil and gas sales.

BRINGING THE WAR TO PUTIN’S FRONT DOOR: IS UKRAINE’S ENERGY STRIKE STRATEGY WORKING?

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a memorial service for former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

But it also extends sanction authority against Iran that hampers funding to the country’s weapons and energy sectors as the administration and negotiators abroad seek to find a long-lasting peace agreement for the war in the Middle East.

Also, still in the legislation are targeted sanctions against Putin, Russian officials and Russian military leaders, up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports, tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian energy, like China and India.

It also gives President Donald Trump flexibility for when to turn off some aspects of the sanctions, among others.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., one of the original backers of the sanctions package, is already putting pressure on the House to make a move on the legislation. The lower chamber left until the end of August last week. 

«I am hopeful that when we get this across the finish line, which is going to happen in a big way, that the House will come back immediately and pass this legislation,» Britt said. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a close ally of Graham’s, made the journey to Washington to attend his funeral, and meet with President Donald Trump and lawmakers in the process to push the sanctions bill and a deal for more anti-ballistic defenses in the war against Russia.

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Zelenskyy said on X that, «First and foremost, I offered President Trump our condolences on the passing of Lindsey Graham. He was a true friend of Ukraine.»

«The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,» Zelenskyy said. «We also spoke about diplomacy – it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.»

And Zelenskyy, after his closed-door meeting with lawmakers, went to the viewing gallery in the Senate to watch vote, which after many stops and starts, finally showed signs of progress. 

La agencia de migración de la ONU alertó sobre el aumento de tráfico de personas para trabajos forzados en centros de estafas en línea, una modalidad que afecta a cientos de miles de víctimas, incluidas personas angloparlantes con estudios universitarios. Según la Organización Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM), los grupos criminales captan a sus víctimas mediante anuncios falsos de empleo, especialmente a través de redes sociales, que prometen oportunidades laborales en el extranjero.

Al llegar al destino, los afectados son privados de libertad, se les retienen documentos y se les obliga a participar en esquemas de fraude por internet, bajo amenazas, violencia y “servidumbre por deudas”.

“Estamos viendo que ahora mismo surgen muchos más de estos casos”, declaró la directora general de la OIM, Amy Pope, el martes en Ginebra. La funcionaria precisó que hay víctimas de más de 80 países distintos en este tipo de delitos. Pope subrayó que los reclutadores buscan perfiles que “por lo general hablan muy bien inglés”, a menudo con títulos de posgrado y cierto nivel académico, y que los casos “se están dando específicamente en toda Asia”.

“Las redes criminales atraen a estas personas con promesas de empleo, anunciando ofertas en redes sociales, reclutando a personas que a menudo hablan inglés muy bien, y que frecuentemente tienen títulos universitarios”, sostuvo Pope y agregó: “No todas las personas que trabajan en esos centros son víctimas de trata, algunas saben en lo que se están involucrando, pero un porcentaje significativo son víctimas de trata”.

La OIM citó estimaciones de la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (ONUDD) que calculan pérdidas por hasta 114.000 millones de dólares el año pasado en Asia oriental, Australia y Nueva Zelanda, y advierten que los “complejos de estafas” en la región podrían albergar a cientos de miles de trabajadores traficados.

Entre 2022 y 2025, la OIM asistió a más de 3.500 víctimas de este tipo de explotación, originarias de casi 40 países, siendo las más afectadas Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Etiopía, Kenia y Bangladesh.

Pope, precisó que, aunque inicialmente las víctimas procedían principalmente de países asiáticos cercanos a los centros de estafa, actualmente se han documentado afectados de más de 80 países, lo que indica una diversificación en el origen de las personas explotadas por estas organizaciones. Respecto a los perjudicados por los fraudes en línea, Pope advirtió que estas redes suelen seleccionar como objetivo a personas mayores, a quienes contactan telefónicamente para intentar obtener datos bancarios y cometer estafas.

La Policía de Malasia desarticuló dos centros de estafas digitales en el estado de Johor, frente a Singapur, y detuvo a más de 300 personas presuntamente implicadas en fraudes millonarios contra víctimas internacionales, según informaron las autoridades y recogen medios locales.

De acuerdo con el jefe policial de Johor, Ab Rahaman Arsad, citado por la prensa malasia, los centros operaban en 32 inmuebles —27 apartamentos en un complejo de lujo y 5 chalés— y estaban vinculados a sospechosos con antecedentes en fraudes similares en otros países. El diario nacional The Star indicó que cada residencia tenía asignadas víctimas de un país específico, y que la mayoría de los engaños estaban relacionados con falsas inversiones, criptomonedas y la suplantación de bufetes de abogados.

El operativo culminó con la detención de 335 personas de entre 20 y 58 años, entre ellos 309 ciudadanos chinos, 19 indonesios, cuatro birmanos y cuatro malasios, según el mismo medio.

Expertos y la ONU señalaron que los centros de estafa surgieron en el Sudeste Asiático ligados a la industria de los casinos, y se trasladaron al entorno digital tras la pandemia de la covid-19. Muchos de sus trabajadores cumplen labores en condiciones cercanas a la semiesclavitud, defraudando millones de dólares a víctimas en todo el mundo bajo las órdenes de mafias, en su mayoría de origen chino.

(Con información de Associated Press y EFE)

A leading Iran expert has called on the British government to shut down an Islamic center that he claimed has been functioning as an office of the regime’s supreme leader amid a shocking report that Iran’s regime smuggled operatives into the United Kingdom.

The Islamic Center of England recently came into the spotlight following revelations that the U.K. government has allegedly allowed the center to sponsor visas for imams. The report comes at a time when Iran has said Britain is a legitimate target if it allows the U.S. to use its bases to fly missions against Tehran.

The reported green light to imams to secure visas as «skilled workers» for the Islamic Center raises profound questions about dangerous gaps in Britain’s national security and immigration policies, according to lawmakers and Mideast experts.

UK PINS STRING OF ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS ON IRAN-LINKED GROUP, BANS IRGC

Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] Research at United Against Nuclear Iran told Fox News Digital, «In light of the IRGC’s threat to attack Britain and reports that it has been exploiting the illegal migrant crisis to send ‘Islamic revolutionary agents’ to the country, the U.K. government simply must not tolerate the existence of this Islamist extremist infrastructure on British soil.»

Aarabi added, «The Islamic Centre of England — a U.K.-registered charity and mosque — has long been operating as the office of the Iranian regime’s supreme leader in the U.K. Its Imam is the personally appointed U.K. representative of the regime’s supreme leader. The very fact that the supreme leader of the Iranian regime, who is ordering terror plots on British soil, has an office and appointed representative in the U.K. is completely unacceptable. In light of the IRGC’s latest threats against Britain, the center should be immediately shut down and all of its non-British staff deported.»

The revelation about the Islamic Center of England comes amid a report in the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph that Tehran officials claimed the IRGC controls some illegal human trafficking routes between the Middle East and the English Channel.

Firefighters are seen tackling a blaze at Highfield Road in the Golders Green neighborhood of London, following an arson attack on four charity ambulances belonging to the Jewish Community volunteer Ambulance Service. (PA/PA Images via Getty Images)

An Iranian official told The Telegraph, «Of course, don’t forget that our armed forces have influence and run the [smuggling] routes in some cases if they want.» The official warned, «At the moment we have people right there in London, revolutionary people who care about the world and the lives of children – they wait for us to tell them what to do. We have not done that yet, but we can easily make London unsafe for you if we want to.»

The official added, «These smuggling routes are more important and useful than the missiles for us – we do not need a missile to target London, it’s easier than that.»

WHO IS AHMAD VAHIDI? IRAN’S NEW IRGC CHIEF TIED TO GLOBAL ATTACKS AND ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ IDEOLOGY

Fox News Digital previously reported in February that the Islamic Center of England was accused of selling merchandise supporting the U.S.-designated terrorist movement, Hezbollah and the IRGC — also a U.S.-classified terrorist entity.

The Islamic Center allegedly had stickers of late Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps global terrorist Qassem Soleimani, who was responsible for the murders of over 600 U.S. military personnel, according to the Trump administration. President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike in January 2020 that killed Soleimani in Iraq.

A spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Home Office — a mix of the Department of Homeland Security and DOJ — told Fox News Digital, «The Islamic Center of England has not sponsored any workers since 2022 under the previous government, and the Charity Commission is currently investigating this organization.»

Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran and second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a meeting in Tehran on Oct. 13, 2024. (Hamed Jafarnejad/ISNA/WANA/Reuters)

The Home Office spokesperson continued, «We treat the threat posed by the Iranian regime and those who do its bidding with the utmost seriousness. That’s why we have fast-tracked a change in the law to outlaw support for the IRGC, equipping the police and intelligence service with more powers to disrupt those working on their behalf, and making it easier to prosecute them. If wrongdoing is uncovered, those responsible will face the full force of the law, with the possibility of lengthy prison sentences, loss of licenses, and further civil action.»

Iran and its chief strategic ally, Hezbollah, have been blamed for bombing the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983 in which 63 people, including 17 Americans, were murdered, and dual suicide truck bombers blew up the barracks of American and French members of a multinational force in Lebanon in 1983, in which 220 U.S. Marines, 18 U.S. Navy sailors and 3 U.S. Army soldiers lost their lives. Fifty-eight French troops were also murdered in the terrorist attack.

Critics have long urged the British government to pull the plug on the Islamic Center’s operation as pressure mounts on the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, to act against Iranian regime apparatus in the country.

Aarabi said, «Burnham’s government should use all available tools — including the new designation of the IRGC under the National Security (State Threats) Act — to dismantle this Islamist extremist apparatus across Britain that is linked to the IRGC. To put it more clearly: all the charities, mosques and centers that have carried out IRGC-linked activity should be dismantled, and their non-British staff deported immediately. No ifs or buts.»

He added «The Imam of the center, who is the representative of the ayatollah in the U.K., has continuously expressed extremist views that are sympathetic to the IRGC. In spite of this, not only does he continue to reside in the U.K. but he is listed as the trustee of several charities in Britain. This individual does not hold a diplomatic passport, meaning his visa could be immediately revoked.»

Naval units from Iran and Russia simulate the rescue of a hijacked vessel during joint drills at the Port of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan, Iran, on Feb. 19, 2026. (Iranian Army/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

US-SANCTIONED MOJTABA KHAMENEI NAMED IRAN’S NEXT SUPREME LEADER AFTER FATHER’S DEATH: REPORTS

Aarabi argued that the «IRGC has built an entire ‘soft power’ infrastructure across Britain under the guise of charities, mosques and colleges. The IRGC’s goal has been to use this infrastructure to nurture home-grown Islamist radicalization, terrorism and acts of violence. In doing so, it has successfully cultivated, within segments of the British Muslim community, what can only be described as an Islamist constituency that is loyal to it and its violent extremist ideology. These tactics mimic ISIS and al Qaeda — yet there has been no attempt to counter it by the British government.»

Iranian agents have attacked Iranian dissidents over the years in Britain. Two Romanian nationals, who prosecutors said had been acting ​for Iran, were jailed this month for stabbing a journalist working for an independent Iranian news outlet, Iran International, in London.

Tehran has always denied involvement in such attacks, calling allegations ​to the contrary unfounded and politically motivated.

«If the IRGC seeks to attack Britain, it could activate this radicalized Islamist constituency for acts of home-grown violence and terror. This form of kind-actor terror, where a radicalized extremist carries out an attack because they’re ideologically inspired rather than paid or directed by Tehran, also provides the IRGC with sufficient plausible deniability to complicate attribution and reduce the likelihood of British retaliation,» said Aarabi.

A protester waves a flag of Iran during the demonstration in Millbank. Thousands of people marched to the U.S. Embassy in protest the war against Iran. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for the Islamic Center of England told Fox News Digital, «The Islamic Center of England is an independent registered charity, established and operating under the laws of England and Wales. It is governed by English charity law and regulated by the Charity Commission. It is not an official office or representative of any government, political entity, or individual.»

The spokesperson for the center added, «Like many charities, faith organizations and other eligible institutions in the U.K., the Center holds a Home Office sponsor license, which allows it to sponsor skilled workers where it meets the requirements of the U.K.’s immigration system.»

The spokesperson concluded, «Sponsor licenses are granted and overseen by the Home Office, and all licensed sponsors are required to comply with the same legal and regulatory obligations. The Center has consistently maintained that it is an independent U.K. charity and carries out its activities in accordance with U.K. law and its charitable objectives.»

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The British prime minister’s press office referred Fox News Digital to the Home Office for comments.

Reuters contributed to this report.