Biden Admin Greenlights Sanctions Waiver That Allows Iraq To Pay Iran Millions for Electricity

After administration officials refuted Iran’s assertion that Tehran would get$ 500 million as a result of the release, Waiver signed the document.

Last week, the Biden administration approved a restrictions waiver that will enable Iraq to make cash payment for electricity to Iran, whose cash-strapped government claims it will receive$ 500 million in transaction from Iraq in exchange for the release.

According to a record of the notice obtained by the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s non-public sanctions exemption, which was sent to Congress earlier this month, permits Iraq to spend Iran for billion dollar light debts. Iran’s believes that the United States had made it possible for Tehran to get the$ 500 million, which was first reported by the Free Beacon, were refuted by authorities in the Biden administration the day before the cancellation was granted.

However, according to the most recent restrictions exemption,” the Trade Bank of Iraq is permitted to engage in commercial orders… in connection with the purchase of light.

Iran’s estimate of$ 500 million is unknown, as is whether it is connected to the most recent restrictions exemption, which leaves out specific financial information. According to Egyptian officials, they owe Iraq about$ 18 billion in back payments for electricity. One day after the Free Beacon reported on Iran’s cases and received a denial from the Treasury Department, Blinken signed the exemption on March 17. Democratic hawks on Capitol Hill are incensed by the Biden administration’s decision to approve new To payments to Iran, accusing the management of aiding Tehran in obtaining money at a time when the regime is supplying Russia with weapons for its war in Ukraine.

Sen. Ted Cruz( R., Texas) said,” Of course the Biden administration lied that they wouldn’t waive restrictions on Iraq just days before they did so.” They are aware that by allowing money to enter Iran, they are jeopardizing not just Americans’ safety and security but also it they assert to think about Putin’s defeat. They claim that Iran sponsors terrorism and is Russia’s best military supporter, but their priorities are to appease Iran and reestablish a nuclear agreement with the Ayatollah. They are providing support for both sides of the conflict in Ukraine.

A Treasury Department official responded to the Free Beacon‘s preliminary report on the subject by saying that Iran did not receive a cancellation for the cost of any restricted or blocked money. The article would not be endorsed or refuted by the State Department.

A Treasury Department official forwarded the Free Beacon to the State Department for comment when contacted on Wednesday regarding the parliamentary cancellation notice. On the report, a spokeswoman for the State Department declined to comment on the situation.

According to Blinken’s decision in the most recent sanctions exemption,” it is vital to the federal security of the United States to relinquish the implementation of restrictions” on transactions from the Iraqi Trade Bank to Iran. After 120 days of the release, the United States may decide whether or not to reauthorize these transactions. The justifications for the administration’s decision to grant the exemption are detailed in a classified section of the notice given to Congress.

Last year, Hamid Hosseini, the director general of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, asserted that the Biden management” granted another countenance release and allowed the transaction of 500 million dollars from Iraq’s electricity bills to Iran.” According to Hosseini, the contract was apparently reached while the foreign minister of Iraq was in Washington, D.C., meeting with representatives from the State Department.

Due to U.S. punishment and control over the company’s property, the funds have been frozen in the Iraqi Trade Bank.

In remarks made last week by Iran’s state-controlled news, Hosseini stated that” the capital of Iran is in a lender that is supervised by the United States, and it is only permitted to trade goods that are not sanctioned.”

Given that Iraq depends on Iran for electricity and other services, these funds have long been a sticking point in U.S. – Iraq relations. The payments to Iran, according to the public of Iraq, are required to prevent a potential shortage in the nation.

These sanctions discounts were already approved by the Trump administration, and President Joe Biden continued them in March 2021 and February 2022. Each release gave Iraq 120 days to transfer electricity from Iran without being subject to sanctions.

The restrictions discounts open the door to additional agreements to Iran, despite the fact that the United States has largely given up on reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement.