OOPS: Is this the ‘peace in our time’ Obama and Kerry promised us?
Iran has been very busy. Busy doing EXACTLY what Kerry, Obama, and Hillary told us they would NOT be doing.
They have been working on their nuclear program. We’ll get to that. But first, a quick recap of how ‘awesome’ this deal has ALREADY been.
Even Kerry’s ORIGINAL statements about the deal were pretty bad — admitting our tax dollars would probably be funding terrorism.
Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged to CNBC Thursday that some of the money Iran received in sanctions relief would go to groups considered terrorists.
When asked about whether some the $150 billion in sanctions relief to Iran would go to terrorist groups, Kerry reiterated that, after settling debts, Iran would receive closer to $55 billion. He conceded some of that could go to groups considered terrorists, saying there was nothing the U.S. could do to prevent that.
“I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” he said in the interview in Davos, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. “You know, to some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented.” —CNN
Then we found out about ‘loopholes’ Iran was able to use to their benefit.
“The exemptions or loopholes are happening in secret, and it appears that they favor Iran,” President of the Institute for Science and International Security David Albright told Reuters. Albright alleges he received the information from U.S. officials, but his findings have not been confirmed by the U.S. government.
One of the loopholes identified by the think tank reportedly allows Iran to exceed the officially agreed upon amount of low-enriched uranium. This type of uranium is vital to the Iran deal, because it can quite easily be purified into weapons grade uranium needed for a nuclear weapon. —DailyCaller
And there was the ‘no-ransom ransom’ we gave Iran.
The State Department conceded for the first time on Thursday that it delayed making a $400 million payment to Iran for several hours in January “to retain maximum leverage” and ensure that three American prisoners were released the same day.
For months the Obama administration had maintained that the payment was part of a settlement over an old dispute and did not amount to a “ransom” for the release of the Americans. Instead, administration officials said, it was the first installment of the $1.7 billion that the United States intends to pay Iran to reimburse it for military equipment it bought before the Iranian revolution that the United States never delivered.
But at a briefing on Thursday, John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said the United States “took advantage of the leverage” it felt it had that weekend in mid-January to obtain the release of the hostages and “to make sure they got out safely and efficiently.”
Republicans opposed to the nuclear deal President Obama reached with Iran have described the payment as ransom and a further sign of his administration’s feckless dealings with Tehran.
…But the Iranian press has described the payment as a ransom — which fits Tehran’s narrative that it has outmaneuvered the Obama administration. That is also the argument of Republicans, including Donald J. Trump, the party’s candidate for president. —NY Times
What have they been up to lately?
Iran’s ballistic missile work, particularly its focus on ICBMs, runs counter to United Nations resolutions barring such activity, though it remains unclear if the Trump administration plans to pursue new sanctions on Iran.
Iran continues to perform key research and development on nuclear missile capabilities despite the landmark nuclear agreement with Western powers, according to the last U.S. intelligence assessments.
“Iran is pursuing capabilities to meet its nuclear energy and technology goals and to give it the capability to build missile-deliverable nuclear weapons, if it chooses to do so” Coats wrote in his written testimony to the Senate intelligence committee.
U.S. officials are unsure if Iran will build nuclear weapons, but it is likely this intention would dictate Tehran’s future adherence to the nuclear deal, which the administration of former President Barack Obama framed in such a way as to leave out the issue of ballistic missiles.
The United States assesses that Iran remains about a year away from a functional nuclear missile if it decides to build one in violation of the nuclear deal.
Iranian military leaders claim their missile work is unrelated to the nuclear agreement and permissible under it. The country’s refusal to abandon this work has caused concern on Capitol Hill, as well as among U.S. national security insiders who view the work as related to Iran’s aspirations for regional dominance.
The U.S. intelligence community maintains that Iran—which has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East—likely would use this technology to launch a nuclear weapon. — (Free Beacon)
How is this delivering the ‘peace in our time’ that Obama, Kerry and Hillary all promised us?
