The Biden Administration has unlocked “fresh billions for Iran,” “upwards of $10 billion for Tehran as its terror proxy Hamas wages war on Israel,” reports Adam Credo of the Free Beacon.
The Free Beacon reports that the “sanctions waiver … was set to expire today after first being authorized for a period of 120 days in July….This is the first time the Biden administration has renewed the waiver since the Iran-backed terror group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that was reported to have been planned with Tehran’s support….By freeing up this cash, Iran can allocate other financial resources to its global terrorism operation, which has been in overdrive since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel….Critics …. see the sanctions waiver as proof that the administration is maintaining Tehran’s financial channels, even after it provided Hamas with the resources necessary to slaughter more than 1,200 Israelis and take hostage many others, including Americans.”
The Biden administration did this even though “two days ago the Wall Street Journal confirmed what we all suspected: the Hamas terrorists who committed all those atrocities trained in Iran just before the attacks. They raped, murdered, and mutilated people, including Americans, some of whom are still being held hostage,” notes Hot Air’s David Strom.”In the weeks leading up to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, hundreds of the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s fighters received specialized combat training in Iran.”
Biden is making billions of dollars available to Iran even as it attacks the United States through its proxies. The BBC reports that “Pentagon officials said last week that Iranian-backed militias have attacked US bases and facilities in Iraq and Syria at least 41 times since the Israel-Hamas war began on 7 October. They added that 56 US personnel have been injured in these attacks between 17 October and early November. The injuries are a combination of traumatic brain injury and minor injuries.”
Iran has been disregarding Biden’s warning last month “not to target US troops in the Middle East.” It makes sense for it to ignore Biden’s warnings, because there is no cost to ignoring them. Indeed, Biden rewards Iran for behaving badly toward the United States. In August, the Biden administration released $6 billion to Iran in exchange for a mere 5 U.S hostages, paying a ransom of over $1 billion per hostage. This gave Iran’s oppressive government exactly what it wanted, and rewarded it for abducting Americans. As former State Department official Gabriel Noronha pointed out, “Three years ago,” an Iranian Revolutionary Guard “Commander said they could balance their budget by getting a billion each for American hostages. Well, Biden just gave Iran $1.2 billion each for five.”
In October, Russia seized yet another American journalist, knowing that the Biden administration ransoms hostages and thus encourages hostage-taking. It is effectively holding Radio Free Europe’s Alsu Kurmasheva and the Wall Street Journal’s Gershkovich as hostages. As The Guardian notes, the “espionage charges against” Gershkovich “are widely viewed as spurious and an effort to blackmail Washington into releasing Russian prisoners, including spies and financial criminals with ties to powerful figures in Russia.”
Russia’s seizure of the two journalists follows the Biden administration’s foolish 2022 deal with Russia, in which the U.S. released a “merchant of death” responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, in exchange for an American athlete who violated Russian laws against possessing illegal drugs. Such a lopsided trade encouraged future hostage-taking, by telling the Russians we would give them a lot, in exchange for any American they detain.
