ACTION ALERT: CONGRESS MUST STOP TEAM BIDEN FROM GIVING RUSSIA A FINANCIAL LIFELINE IN IRAN DEAL

(and must continue to fight the insane and treasonous Iran deal with all they've got)

STOPIRANNOW.ORG

March 18, 2022

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

Pictures of Russian Invasion of Ukraine

IRANIAN/ASSAD GENOCIDE IN SYRIA WITH RUSSIAN ASSISTANCE

Pictures of Iranian/Assad barrel bomb and chemical attacks on Syrian Civilians which led to the intentional and horrific murder of over 400,000 Syrians, including at least 2,000 children. Iran used some of the money it reaped from the Iran nuclear deal - JCPOA - to bankroll the Assad regime, including a $1 billion line of credit , and to finance its own troops and Shi'ite militias from across the region to support Assad and Russia.

THE WORLD SHOULD ALSO BE QUESTIONING THE SANITY GIVING IRAN A FINANCIAL LIFELINE IN THE FIRST PLACE. IS THE HORRIFIC MURDER OF 500,000 FREEDOM-SEEKING SYRIAN MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN SYRIA AND LESS OF A MORAL OUTRAGE THAN PUTIN'S ATROCIOUS ATTACKS ON UKRAINIAN CIVILIANS?

BACKGROUND:

Anthony Ruggiero and Andrea Stricker write in the New York Post:

"Washington appears determined to undermine its own economic-sanctions campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his brutal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and intentional attacks on civilians — to secure a 'deal' which provides nuclear weapons and hundreds of billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic of Iran to finance its terrorism, genocide, war machine and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Note that when one compares rap sheets the Ayatollahs is as long if not longer than Putin's.

The State Department confirmed Tuesday that the Biden administration would “not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation” of a new deal with Ir

In effect, Washington is guaranteeing Moscow a multibillion-dollar payout. Congress should stop President Joe Biden from throwing Putin this financial lifeline while he maims and kills innocent civilians.

Team Biden has been negotiating the revival of a weaker, shorter version of the Iran agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, since last year. It’s allowed Russia an outsized role in the talks, with the country’s head delegate, Amb. Mikhail Ulyanov, providing frequent public updates. In one instance, Ulyanov praised Tehran’s negotiating style, candidly stating, “Iran got much more than it could expect.”

Last week, however, Moscow suddenly halted negotiations and demanded guarantees from the Biden administration that the West’s Ukraine sanctions wouldn’t lead Washington to penalize “civil nuclear cooperation” in Iran that the deal’s terms allow Russia to undertake.

While Russia’s gambit may seem part of the standard give-and-take of negotiations, Moscow’s real motive was financial. As Putin and his oligarchs start to feel the pain of Ukraine sanctions, Russia can’t afford to miss out on a major payday in Iran. Hidden in the 2015 nuclear deal is tacit permission for Russia to expand Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, a project worth some $10 billion to the Kremlin.

Tehran reportedly owes another $500 million to Russia’s state nuclear agency, Rosatom, for past work. Rosatom is the entity Russia has installed to assume operational control of Ukrainian nuclear power plants — most recently the largest plant in Eastern Europe, the Zaporizhzhya facility, as well as the shuttered Chernobyl plant — after Moscow’s irresponsible shelling and takeovers of the facilities.

As recently as a week ago, Team Biden was considering sanctions against Rosatom for its role in the Ukraine conflict. But when Moscow threatened to scuttle the Iran talks in retaliation, the administration quickly backed down.

Russia may also try to use Iran as a financial conduit to evade Ukraine sanctions. A revival of the nuclear deal would remove most US sanctions against hundreds of Iranian banks, companies and individuals. If sanctioned Russian banks, companies or individuals trade or transact with newly unsanctioned Iranian counterparts, the Biden administration could not “re-sanction” the Iranian entities for doing business with Russia — it would be a violation of the JCPOA.

If Iran nuclear negotiations are successful, the Bidenites will be under enormous pressure to ensure that Tehran receives economic benefits from the deal. They may decline to take action against US and other nations’ banks and companies to stop Russian transactions with Iran that would run afoul of Ukraine sanctions.

Biden is letting Putin run the Iran nuclear talks

The Biden team may have agreed to much more than it bargained for when it permitted exemptions for Moscow’s nuclear work in Iran. At Tuesday’s press briefing, State Department spokesman Ned Pricemade clear that the administration hadn’t thought through the possibility for broader sanctions evasion, dismissing a reporter’s question on the subject as 'a hypothetical wrapped in another hypothetical.'"

ACTION ALERT

Congress can play a role in preventing a cash windfall for Russia. We can all play a role in contacting our United States senators and representative and urging them:

• To immediately pass legislation requiring the administration to sanction Rosatom.

• To impose US sanctions against Iranian and any other foreign entities that trade or transact with sanctioned Russian entities.

• To immediately hold hearings to ascertain whether Russia could use Iran to evade Ukraine restrictions.

Note that any member of Congress who refuses is in reality soft on Russia and Iran despite any crocodile tears -- and is compromising our security and betraying our cherished values.

"Please contact your United States Senators and your United States Representative and urge them to speak up now against the feckless, dangerous and souless policies of Joe Biden vis-a-vis Iran and Russia and to enact these concrete measure immediately.

This matter must transcend partisan politics. It is a test of our common humanity."