The Biden administration is facing fierce criticism for its reported willingness to pump $17 billion into the coffers of the world’s worst state-terror sponsor Islamic Republic of Iran Reaching a controversial deal to impose temporary restrictions on Iran’s illegal nuclear program and secure the release of American hostages.
“When Joe Biden was elected, Iran’s nuclear program was in a box, and their economy was in a downward spiral,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Fox News Digital said. “As the Ayatollah steadily moved toward nuclear weapons, Biden looked the other way and the government began exporting millions of barrels of oil a day.
“All the while, Iran has become Putin’s No. 1 military backer. Biden is already funding both sides of the war in Ukraine, and so it would be appalling but surprising if he openly began sending billions more to the Ayatollah.”
Cruz’s criticism of Biden’s Iran policy followed a report by Washington DC-based independent news agency Iran International that a deal between the US and Tehran on sanctions could be imminent.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questions U.S. Ambassador-designate to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jan. 27, 2021, on Capitol Hill.
In exchange for economic incentives reported to be $17 billion for the clerical regime, Iran’s rulers will release three American hostages and freeze certain aspects of their alleged nuclear weapons work.
According to an Iran International report, Iraqi bank funds totaling $10 billion (or more) could be sent to Iran and linked to restrictions on Tehran’s illegal nuclear program. Iraq buys electricity and natural gas from Tehran, but is prohibited from transferring dollar payments to Iran due to US sanctions.
Iraq only allows funds to be transferred to Iran in Iraqi dinars. As a result of strict sanctions on Iran, Tehran can only use dinars to buy goods from Iraq. Tehran sees the arrangement as a trade balance and maintains an outstanding debt to Iraq.
Mohammad Kazem al-Sadegh, Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, told an Iraqi news outlet this year that Iran owes Iraq $11 billion for gas and electricity imports.
South Korea It bought $7 billion worth of oil from Iran in 2019 before the country imposed a comprehensive energy embargo on Iran. The money is in the hands of South Korea.
Asked about the Iran International report and a new deal with the Iranian government, a State Department spokesman did not deny the report. “Make no mistake: the United States will protect and defend its citizens,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
“To that end, we are committed to securing the freedom of all U.S. citizens wrongfully detained abroad, and we are working tirelessly to bring all wrongfully detained citizens back home. We will not stop until they are reunited with their loved ones.”
Morgan Ortagus, a former State Department spokeswoman who served during the Trump administration, noted, “The United States should never spend a penny in ransom to pay the world’s leading state sponsors of terrorism.”
“Secretary Pompeo and President Trump brought two Americans home from an Iranian prison without paying a dime. Giving Iran billions of dollars will encourage more hostages and make more Americans and their families suffer. And fuel more Iranian terrorism around the world.”
Former US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus
President Trump has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, as it is officially known Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, In 2018 because his administration argued that it did not stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and allowed Iran to finance terrorism and develop long-range missiles.
The State Department under both Republican and Democratic administrations has classified the Iranian regime as the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism.
Asked about last week’s Financial Times report about a secret meeting between Iran’s special envoy, Rob Malley, and Iran’s UN ambassador, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Monday, “We have ways to communicate with Iran and get the message out to them. interest. We are not going to detail the content of those messages or the means of their delivery.”
Middle Eastern media are also reporting on accelerated talks between the US and Iran. Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported on Wednesday that the Jewish state’s defense officials believe a deal is moving quickly and that an agreement could be reached within weeks. The newspaper wrote that “approximately $20 billion in Iranian assets from frozen bank accounts” could be transferred to the Iranian government.
Elements of the proposed deal would force Iran to stop enriching uranium to high levels in exchange for significant sanctions relief. Iran’s regime caught up in enrichment as early as 2023 Weapons-grade uranium is near purity for an atomic bomb.
Three US citizens are also being held hostage in Iran Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, and Morad Tahbaz. The fourth hostage is Jamshid Sharmad, a German national and a long-term legal resident of California who was kidnapped by the Iranian government in Dubai in 2020.
According to human rights groups, the Iranian government executed journalist Sharmahd this year on charges of dissident activity in a show trial that lacked standard judicial procedures.
