Biden administration allows billions of dollars in sanctions relief that will benefit Iran Denied oil sales are estimated to be worth more than billions of dollarsThat allows the Iranian government to continue funding its drone factories and proxy groups, an expert told Fox News Digital.
“What happens when you release that money is that it goes into the general fund, which can then be used in many different ways,” said Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). can be done.” Explained.
“If they are using sanctions relief to fund their general budget, eventually (they) will Benefits of IRGC Because the IRGC participates in that regular budget,” Schanzer said, adding that the Biden administration has often argued that any waivers do not ultimately and directly benefit the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Let me put it this way: There’s no way to do this without benefiting the regime and its ultimate objective, which is to finance its deadly activities abroad,” said Shenzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department. ” ,
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration “has not lifted a single sanction on Iran. Instead, we will continue to increase pressure.”
“Our comprehensive sanctions regime against Iran remains in place and we will continue to enforce them,” the spokesman said. “Over the past three years, the United States has imposed sanctions on more than 600 individuals and entities linked to the full range of Iran’s problematic and dangerous behavior, including UAV and missile proliferation, terrorism, terrorist financing and other forms of illicit trade, horrific human rights abuses, and support for For proxy terrorist groups.”
President Biden, left, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Getty Images)
“We have seen the regime fail to meet its revenue expectations as it struggles to evade our sanctions and find illicit buyers for its oil,” the spokesman said, declining to comment. That Iran finds buyers for its oil. The spokesperson stressed that US sanctions, combined with “mismanagement of Iran’s economy and governance”, have driven the country’s currency to “lowest levels”. This is the lowest ever against the US dollar.”
A second State Department spokesperson reiterated the fact that sanctions allowing Iraq to purchase power from Iran have been renewed 21 times since the Trump administration first issued the waiver in 2018 and that there is “no notion” that The money goes to Iran because of the exemption. False and misleading.”
“We are continuing to discuss ways to increase pressure on Iran with allies and partners, including the G-7 and the European Union,” a second spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital analysis in conjunction with FDD’s research determined that Iran received between $16 billion and $20 billion in sanctions relief, with billions of dollars more received through the sale of Iranian oil, which The US has approved but not fully managed. Prevent this due to a mixture of lax government surveillance and more sophisticated evasion methods.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps servicemen walk along Enghelab (Revolution) Avenue during the unveiling of the Iranian Khyber surface-to-surface missile during the Ila Bayt al-Moghdas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran, in November Are. 24, 2023. (Morteza Nicoubzal/Nurfoto via Getty Images)
This includes $10 billion in sanctions relief so Iraq can trade for electricity from Iran, $6 billion in sanctions relief agreed to transfer money to south korea $3.8 billion was raised through the sale of petrochemicals in exchange for the release of five Americans and the avoidance of Trump-era sanctions.
In March the US State Department faced criticism for resuming the sanctions waiver, which had been renewed since the Trump administration first issued the waiver in 2018. Some experts estimated the valuation of the concessions for Iran at around $10 billion.
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That waiver specifically allowed the transfer of funds between Iran and Iraq so that Iraq, which remains a U.S. ally, could continue to use electricity imported from Iran – but critics saw it as merely an extension of sanctions against Iran. And seen as lax.
The White House national security adviser said, “None of this money goes to the mullahs. None of this money goes to Tehran. The sanctions relief that is provided actually goes to the vendors who support the Iranians.” Provide humanitarian aid to people.” John Kirby told reporters those days.
This file handout photo provided by Hezbollah’s media office on September 2, 2023 shows the Lebanese Shiite group’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, left, during a meeting with Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy head of the Palestinian Hamas movement, at an undisclosed location. Lebanon. (Hezbollah Media Office/AFP via Getty Images)
“Not only will the Iraqi people not be harmed because of it, but the Iranian people won’t be harmed because of it,” Kirby said. “This allows Iraq to be able to work off Iranian energy so they can keep the lights on.”
Schanzer refuted the administration’s argument, saying that “as soon as (the money) gets into the system, it will be diverted or used in scandalous ways,” even through third-party vendors in the country. Even humanitarian aid that is received is taken and resold. Effectively converting aid into money, for the civilian population.
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“When we talk about dual-use items or even things that they need to feed their fighters, this is an increasingly blatant diversion scheme,” Schanzer said. “Whether we’re talking about Iran itself or we’re talking about Iran’s proxies.”
“When the administration was saying we shouldn’t impose sanctions on the Houthis because it would ultimately prevent humanitarian aid from getting into Yemen — guess what?” Shenzer continued. “When that humanitarian aid gets to Yemen, who benefits? The people who control the area in question, which is where a large part of Yemen is controlled by the Houthis right now.”
Houthi supporters take part in a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 8. (AP/Osama Abdulrahman)
In February the New York Times published the results of an investigation that showed that Iran had managed to Sell ”Billion Dollar Oil” Thanks for “an important gap in US oversight”. Shipping vessels owned by shale companies and using “spoofing” methods to hide their location made dozens of trips in 2023 carrying Iranian oil under sanctions.
The lack of full action on Iran’s oil shipments has led a large number of experts to argue that the Biden administration has deliberately turned a blind eye to Iran’s activities – partly because the increase in oil sales was obvious and is clear.
Javier Blas, longtime energy and commodities reporter, wrote in a Bloomberg op-ed That “the conspiracy theorist in me says the White House has turned a blind eye to Iranian sales because it is more concerned about inflation… Iran has boosted not only oil production, but even more so its exports. The increase has come because it is able to sell larger quantities of oil. Part of the crude oil it was forced to put into storage in the past has been diverted to temporary storage facilities both onshore and in tankers.”
A general view of the Kharg Island oil terminal port, 25 kilometers off the Iranian coast and 483 kilometers northwest of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf in Iran on March 12, 2017. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Iran’s growing cooperation with China also plays a key role in how the country has managed to avoid sanctions, according to foreign policyThat cited the 25-year economic cooperation agreement agreed to by the two countries in March 2021, as well as Iran’s decision to join the Beijing-led BRICS economic bloc, which would give Iran access to other currencies and trading options. Provides access.
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“There is no doubt that Russia, China and others are working to provide assistance to the Iranians,” Schanzer claimed. “We know this is the case, but, with the Russians and the Chinese, this is often done in trade or purchases of weapons, oil… If they get remuneration in rubles or RMB (Chinese yuan) in trade surpluses, It’s not the same as dollars for other products where they can cash, and it’s not the same as some of the goods that will come through American channels.”
Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFaul contributed to this report.
