Islamic State's Money Is the Target of Finance Ministers at UN
- Russia and U.S. propose resolution to cut off terror financing
- The extremist group funds itself with oil sales and extortion
An Islamic State fighter waves a flag while standing on a captured government fighter jet in Raqqa, Syria, 2015.
Source: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty ImagesIn the first meeting of its kind, top finance ministers will preside over a United Nations Security Council vote to dismantle the financial network of Islamic State and choke off the extremist group’s access to money from oil and looting.
The presence of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew as chair, flanked by his British and French counterparts, lends urgency to a resolution co-authored by the U.S. and Russia to tackle the revenue stream of a terrorist group that has extended its territorial reach beyond Syria and Iraq with recent deadly attacks on Beirut and Paris. A UN report estimated that Islamic State was earning as much as $1.7 million a day from crude sales.