Less than one year ago, the Obama administration signed, sealed and delivered a nuclear agreement into the bloody hands of Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.
The catastrophic deal gifted the nuclear-ambitious mullahs of Tehran with $150 billion and gutted a critical arms embargo. And it also stripped America of vital security interests and moral dignity.
Now, it appears that the Obama administration has decided that it has not yet made enough capitulations to Iran or reneged on enough security-based red lines, and feels obliged to infuse Iran with more money to fuel its nuclear and anti-Western agenda.
Actually, it’s worse than that. Let me spell it out.
Our current president and his administration, which are supposed to defend our national security and best interests, may now be subsidizing an illicit nuclear program secretly developed by Iranian nuclear scientists, according to a new deal between Tehran and the administration that was recently reported by The Wall Street Journal and other outlets.
According to the terms of the deal signed by Iran and the United States and its P5+1 diplomatic partners, there is supposed to be a clear-cut cap on the amount of Tehran’s heavy water production. Heavy water is a rare form of water utilized to produce weapons-grade plutonium. Iran is strictly forbidden from stockpiling more than 130 tons of heavy water.
The nuclear deal was just signed a few months ago, but the Iranians are already in violation of the deal. By this past February, Iran had already exceeded the 130-ton limit on heavy water production, and ended up having to ship out its surplus to create some semblance of compliance with the deal.
But, given Tehran’s track record of cheating, lying and clandestine nuclear operations, it’s not surprising that it opted to continue producing even more heavy water rather than ceasing production altogether and avoiding further violations.
The Obama administration’s response to Iran’s blatant violation of the deal should have been outrage and immediate calls and actions to ensure full Iranian compliance.
Instead, the Department of Energy has agreed to buy the 32 tons of heavy water from Iran to “safeguard its landmark nuclear agreement.” Unbelievable.
This action is a shameless move by the Obama administration, which is bending over backwards and tying itself in knots to preserve a foreign policy legacy for Obama for which he should be ashamed, not desperate to continue pushing to the absolute limits.
America’s purchase of Iran’s excess heavy water is likely to involve dollars, actually taxpayer money, thereby green-lighting indirect access to the United States financial system. Currently, Iran’s support for terrorism across the globe has rendered it forbidden by U.S. law from accessing the American financial system or conducting business in dollars.
Why would the Obama administration deliberately grant Iran access to conduct indirect business with American dollars that will most likely be used to fund terrorism?
Why would the Obama administration help to sustain a segment of the mullahs’ nuclear program that has easy pivot potential for producing nuclear weapons?
Congress is attempting to investigate and seek answers from the administration, reaching out specifically to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Lawmakers are requesting transparency surrounding how exactly the U.S. plans to pay for the heavy water and what guarantees are in place to prevent Iran from using American taxpayer dollars to fund its terrorist activities.
Congress is absolutely right to question whether American taxpayer money is now being used to purchase Iranian heavy water and essentially bankroll a regime that sees “Death to America” as its mandate. As David Albright, former IAEA inspector and top nuclear expert, told The Wall Street Journal, “We shouldn’t be paying for something they are not supposed to have.”
Even more preposterous is the administration’s unapologetic spin for its egregious support of Iran, a despotic regime committed to nuclear terrorism and guilty of inconceivable human rights violations.
The administration’s initial explanation behind its bizarre purchase of Iranian heavy water is that this decision will help mainstream Iran’s nuclear program and even encourage other countries to turn to Iran for nuclear materials.
Moniz actually said, “That will be a statement to the world: ‘You want to buy heavy water from Iran, you can buy heavy water from Iran. It’s been done. Even the United States did it.’”
Moniz is talking about us becoming a customer of Iran. But what does Iran sell and export around the world? In Lebanon, it’s money and training for the terrorist group Hezbollah. In Syria, it is assistance for the murderous Assad regime. In Latin America, it was the bombing of the Jewish community center in Argentina. In America, it has been an attempt to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in a Georgetown restaurant.
It defies all logic that the administration would literally bankroll Iranian violations of the nuclear deal. Unfortunately, the price America ultimately pays for this catastrophic agreement will likely prove to be far higher.
