In the midst of pursuing legal action against a current political opponent, trying to take credit for an otherwise meager inflation report, and also continuing to just baffle the public, President Joe Biden and his team are continuing to flirt with our enemies and ignore our allies.
According to a report found in the Wall Street Journal today, the White House is trying to “cool” tensions with Iran as the terror-backing state seeks to have billions currently frozen overseas released to them. The Biden administration appears to be willing to try to pay Iran off.
As contacts between the two sides resumed, Washington also approved 2.5 billion euros, equivalent to $2.7 billion, in payments by the Iraqi government for Iranian electricity and gas imports, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. The money had been frozen by U.S. economic sanctions.
U.S. officials described the transfer of funds as routine and unrelated to the discussions. Similar funds have been released in the past, though this time it was done in euros and not local currencies.
After discussions started between senior U.S. and Iranian officials in New York in December, White House officials have traveled to Oman at least three times for further indirect contacts, the people said. Omani officials passed messages between the two sides.
As the WSJ points out, Biden came into office vowing to bring the U.S. back into a nuclear deal with Iran – a deal that former president Donald Trump had pulled the U.S. out of. That deal was heavily criticized by Republicans and
And, it should be noted, it seems odd that the Biden administration may want to renegotiate that deal, given that he basically admitted it was dead back toward the end of 2022.
Biden: The outcome is dead.
In a video obtained by me, Biden clearly says that he will not return to #????? , but the US government will not announce for now.
This video, which is being released for the first time, shows the sidelines of the November 4 election event in California.
with Farsi and English subtitles
But the attempt to cool relations with Iran comes as the Iranian regime has sent drones and other weapons to Russia, which is currently at war with Ukraine. The U.S. has been sending money and weapons to Ukraine, and Iran’s actions have not been taken well by U.S. officials. So, it would again appear that the U.S. strategy is to… bribe Iran into liking us?
AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
It seems like an odd play, considering Iran has routinely called for the United States to be destroyed, called us the “Great Satan,” and regularly funds terror organizations hostile to us and our interests.
To be fair, it’s not just a bribe. The U.S. also wants political prisoners freed. But there is a steep price.
In exchange for a prisoner release and limits on nuclear work, Tehran is seeking billions of dollars in Iranian energy revenue trapped abroad by U.S. sanctions. Iranian officials have repeatedly tied the possible release of prisoners to winning access to $7 billion in Iranian funds held in South Korea and demanded access to billions of dollars held in Iraq for deliveries of gas and oil.
South Korean former government officials with knowledge of the matter said discussions are continuing with Iran and the U.S. over the release of that money for humanitarian purposes.
Meanwhile, our actual allies in the region – like Saudi Arabia and Israel (both of whom rightly see Iran as a destabilizing geopolitical threat in the region) – are ignored by the U.S., so they turn to Russia and China. We are losing footholds in the region from people who liked us once upon a time while trying to make flirty eyes and kissy faces with a regime that hates us and wants us wiped out.
Makes total sense.