Apr 21, 2014 at 4:42pm
Iran, United States, Useful idiots
While frenzied crowds shout “Death to America” on a regular basis in Tehran, the U.S. is essentially now financing Iran’s nuclear program. There couldn’t possibly be a downside, now, could there? The Iranians wouldn’t dare nuke Tel Aviv now, because Israel is an ally of the U.S., and the U.S. is their friend, right? (This is how they really think in Washington. To say it bodes ill for the future would be tantamount to saying that Hitler’s ascent to power in Germany might be bad for Jews.)
“U.S. Releases Another $1 Billion to Iran,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, April 21:
The United States has released $1 billion in cash assets to Iran in April alone under the interim nuclear deal aimed at ratcheting back Iran’s nuclear program, according to the White House.
The Obama administration unfroze Iranian assets totaling $550 million on April 10 and another $450 million on April 15. The United States has now released $2.55 billion to Iran since February, when the scheduled cash infusions first began.The cash releases were contingent upon Iran halting some aspects of its nuclear program and scaling back its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon.
In return, Iran was promised these monthly cash infusions from Washington.
While the White House maintains that Iran will receive about $7 billion in economic relief under the interim accord, outside experts calculate that with oil revenues and other business deals Iran could pocket at least $20 billion over the next several months.
Lawmakers remain concerned that the White House continues to release funds as Iran maintains its support for terrorism.
“It’s an outrage that the administration continues to provide massive sanctions relief to Iran, even as the Iranian government maintains its brazen support for terrorism and continues to develop advanced missile and nuclear warhead technologies,” Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), the House’s chief deputy whip, told the Washington Free Beacon. “Iran’s economy is gradually recovering thanks to the White House’s latest move to unfreeze billions of dollars as a part of the nuclear agreement signed last year, yet we’re no closer to ending Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program.”
“How can this White House justify bolstering Iran’s economy by giving them the one thing they desperately need, while the mullahs continue to violate international obligations and pursue an incredibly dangerous nuclear weapons capability?” Roskam asked.
Japan has paid Iran some $1 billion for crude oil deliveries, adding to concerns that Iran is profiting much more than the White House anticipated.
“Iran is on pace to receive at least three times the amount of sanctions relief than the White House originally predicted,” according to Matan Shamir, research director for the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)….
