STOP IRAN NOW TO BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: STOP FUNDING BOTH SIDES OF UKRAINE WAR

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S SANCTIONS WAIVERS HAVE ENRICHED THE IRANIAN REGIME WHICH, ACCORDING TO THE ADMINISTRATION'S OWN ASSESSMENT, HAS BECOME "RUSSIA'S TOP MILITARY BACKER".

Stop Iran Now - April 22, 2023

In a recent hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate Senator Ted Cruz (R Texas) called out the Biden Administration for funding both sides of the War in Ukraine.

Cruz questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken:

"You have spoken passionately and I believe honestly about your commitment to help Ukraine defeat Vladimir Putin. I agree wholeheartedly that it is an important national security interest of the United States for Russia to lose. Putin is a KGB thug who seeks to reassemble the Soviet Empire at the expense of American interests and at the expense of the safety and security of Americans. And of course in China Xi is watching carefully to see how America responds to Putin's aggression.

I am deeply concerned however that no matter how much you want to help Ukraine there is something this Biden Administration wants more - and that is to re-enter a nuclear deal with Iran.

This administration has shown weakness on Iran since day one and continues to do so.

Just the last few weeks there have been reports that you again waived Congressional sanctions to allow Iraq to move money to the Central Bank of Iran which the Ayatollah uses for terrorism, for ballistic missile development and nuclear weapons work.

Of course that is not all Iran is doing. In January Mr. Secretary you publicly assessed that "Iran had become Russia's top military backer." That is a quote.

And indeed Russia uses Iranian banks, and tankers and planes to move weapons and to dodge sanctions.

Yet the Administration and the State Department in particular continue to allow Russia-Iranian cooperation out of a refusal to crackdown on Iran.

The Biden Administration is boosting - and in many cases funding - both sides of this war."

The senator continued to explain:

If you look at energy - and I want to start with this ask you about the use by Russia of Iranian oil tankers.

As you know Iran violates us energy sanctions by using its own tankers as well as a ghost fleet of foreign flag ships. You have allowed that ghost fleet to grow dramatically. The Iranians were using about 70 tankers when Biden was elected today they are using about 300 tankers. You did not sanction those tankers. Instead the Admin allowed Iran to restore its energy exports getting above 1 million barrels a day which is funding the regime and funding the war on Ukraine. Last month was the highest oil exports Iran has had since 2018.

We can argue about what that means for Iran but I want to ask what does it means for Ukraine and for Russia? Russia is now using dozens of tankers from the Iranian ghost fleet that the Administration allowed to grow in violation of our energy sanctions directly to aid Putin's aggression in Ukraine - why hasn't the Administration sanctioned them?

Cruz went on to ask Blinken why the Administration has not reimposed oil sanctions - and why it has not stopped the Ayatollah's from exporting 1 million barrels of oil daily?

Blinken said they are still exploring the means of dong so.

President Trump had stopped issuing waivers for oil sanctions half way through his Administration as part of his quite effective "maximum pressure campaign". Biden resumed issuing the waivers as well as providing the Iranian regime with a variety of economic relief in efforts to appease the mullahs in hopes of entering into another nuclear agreement.

Experts from both parties agree that the original nuclear deal did not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons - but facilitated Iran's development of nuclear weapons - and enriched the regime while failing to address its intercontinental ballistic missiles, regional aggression and international terrorism.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has explained that it is in all practicality too late to enter into another accord.

UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION