$10 Billion More for Iran Biden renews a sanctions waiver that helps fund terrorism.
After the Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas, which is armed and funded by Iran, many Americans wanted to know: Would President Biden still release $6 billion to Tehran? All six Senate Democrats up for re-election in competitive states joined Republicans in calling on the President to freeze the money.
Under pressure, the White House relented, signaling that it will block the $6 billion—for now—but evidently not because it has changed its mind on the wisdom of financing Iran. On Tuesday the State Department reissued a sanctions waiver that gives Iran access to more than $10 billion.
The waiver, first issued in July and now renewed for another four months, allows Iran access to revenue from Iran’s electricity shipments to Iraq. The State Department says this is necessary to keep the lights on in Baghdad. That oil-rich Iraq remains dependent on Iran for gas and electricity is its own scandal, but the excuse doesn’t wash.
The July waiver was part of an unwritten nuclear agreement with Iran. Giving Iran access to these billions could never pass Congress, so Mr. Biden bypassed it. The idea was to quiet the region until after the 2024 U.S. election.
How little peace the money has bought is clear. Even on the nuclear front, new United Nations inspector reports show that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium continues to grow, Reuters reported Wednesday. Iran now has enough for three nuclear bombs.
After Oct. 7, the White House was quick to distance Iran from the attack. But Israel has since faced thousands of rocket attacks by Iranian proxies on five fronts. Entire regions of Israel have had to be evacuated, with more than 200,000 civilians internally displaced.
Since Oct. 17 Iranian proxies have also carried out 56 attacks—and counting—on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, injuring 59. In other words, Iran has been attacking Americans on average twice a day for a month.
In years past, U.S. policy has allowed Iraq to import Iranian electricity only if the payments were kept in escrow in the Trade Bank of Iraq and denominated in Iraqi dinars. The Biden Administration is now allowing far larger payments and has introduced a mechanism for Iran to move the funds through France, Germany and Oman.
This is likely so the money can be changed to euros, which are more readily convertible, saysRichard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Even if the money goes for “humanitarian purposes”—as the U.S. contends—this frees up funds for terrorism. Iran sends some $700 million to Hezbollah and at least $100 million to Palestinian terrorists annually.
The Biden Administration had tried to keep its sanctions waiver classified, but Rep. Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.) was able to enter much of it into the Congressional Record. Mr. Biden has also quietly let the international embargo on Iran’s missile program lapse and relaxed oil-sanctions enforcement, yielding a surge in Iranian oil exports that has brought the regime tens of billions of dollars.
Secrecy has been the Biden pattern on Iran, and for good reason: Its policy is unpopular. A Nov. 10-13 poll finds that 70% of Americans, including 58% of Democrats, think the President has been “too accommodating” to Iran. Obama-era habits have proved hard to break.
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