By Adam Andrzejewski of Open the Books Substack
By making concessions to the Mullahs who operate the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, the Biden Administration has directly or indirectly pumped more than $50 billion into their coffers enabling untold violence and international destabilization, threatening our our allies and implicating our energy supply chain – just as the Administration also instituted unprecedented handcuffs on U.S. energy independence.
It allowed the sale of Iranian oil worth approximately $40 billion.
It allowed the sale of electricity to Iraq, bringing in an estimated $10 billion to the regime.
Most recently, it released another $6 billion to Iran in Iranian cash. Fortunately for all, the current custodian of that cash, Qatar, has agreed to hold onto those payouts for now.
Despite universal opprobrium and hard sanctions on Iran, Yale University and The Johns Hopkins University have partnered with Iranian entities for research in country since 2013 on the U.S. taxpayer’s dime. Both universities hold massive endowments and don’t need the taxpayer’s help. Furthermore, both were recently criticized for not rebuking the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
KEY BACKGROUND
Iranian Oil: The Mullahs increased oil exports by about 1.5 million barrels a day during Biden’s presidency according to The Committee to Unleash Prosperity founded by the economists Stephen Moore, Lawrence Kudlow, Arthur Laffer, and Steve Forbes:
“This has put roughly $40 billion more into the coffers of the Iranian government,” according to the committee’s investigation.
Loosening Iranian oil sanctions accompanied decline in domestic U.S. oil production by some 700 million barrels a year, thanks to the administrations resolute anti-fossil fuel polices.
The Wall Street Journal wrote, “there’s no question the U.S. decision to ease enforcement of oil sanctions against Iran has aided Israel’s enemies.”
By not enforcing oil sanctions, cash flowed to Tehran, which then had billions more to fund Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, reports Iran’s oil production jumped more than ten-percent from 2.6 million barrels a day in April, to 3 million in August.
Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies points out that not enforcing Iranian oil sanctions also helps China: Iran’s oil increased production can’t be accomplished by sanction evasion alone.
“That number likely reflects a policy of non-enforcement of sanctions,” Goldberg said. “With the administration pursuing so-called ‘de-escalation’ policies with both Iran and China simultaneously, tacitly approving increased Iranian oil exports to China is one way the White House can offer concessions to both regimes.”
Reuters reported on the increased OPEC output: “Iran, which has been boosting supply despite U.S. sanctions, also pumped more, with output hitting the highest level since 2018.” That’s the year Washington re-imposed sanctions.
Iranian electricity: Earlier this year, Iraq made another $10 billion in frozen assets available to pay for natural gas that Iraq buys from Iran.
U.S. sanctions prevent Iraq from paying Iran directly for the gas, and Tehran had cut supplies, plunging already electricity-starved Iraq into blackouts. That lead to an Iraqi plan to barter with Iran, sending its oil as payment for Tehran’s natural gas.
$6 billion in unfrozen Iranian assets: The Wall Street Journal news side published an exclusive on October 8th, that since August, Iran helped plot the Hamas attack on Israel.
It’s impossible to miss that this took places as the Biden Administration unfroze $6 billion in disputed Iranian funds.
In the communique announcing the accord, the U.S. agreed to release five Iranians held in the U.S. and the $6 billion, in exchange for freeing five U.S. citizens illegally held in Tehran. For the Mullahcracy, crime pays — they got their guys and the money.
The funds at issue had been in South Korea. The money was transferred to Doha, Qatar, along with a fig leaf suggesting they will be expended only for “humanitarian” spending, such as food and medicine. Obviously, $6 billion for food and medicine frees up another $6 billion for terror and violence.
As The Hill said, “Iran has access to $6 billion that it did not have access to three months ago.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken insists the money wasn’t used to attack Israel.
“Not a single dollar from that account has actually been spent to date,” Blinken said. “It’s very carefully and closely regulated by the Treasury Department to make sure that it’s only used for food, for medicine, for medical equipment.”
Somehow, the Biden Administration, which is expert in spending other people’s money, simply cannot understand the $6 billion boost it gave to terrorists.
U.S. federal grants spent in Iran: Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com searched the federal checkbook for direct payments to entities in Iran and found that U.S. agencies have funded American universities doing work in Iran with Iranian institutions.
It’s unclear how this partnership happens when U.S. sanctions are in place.
From 2016 to 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave Johns Hopkins University $538,000 in the form of a mental health research grant for a project the university did in conjunction with Tehran Medical Science University – a subdivision of the Iranian government.
The description states a contract
“will cover effort for Dr. Larry Wissow [Johns Hopkins] to have the role of co-pi of the grant. Activities will include weekly meetings with Dr. Mojtaba the other co-pi and with Dr. Sharifi, the leader of the Iranian research team, to oversee the ongoing conduct of the project. Dr. Wissow will have primary responsibility for drafting analysis plans and for creating the de-identified data set that will be deposited with NIMH. He will also participate in drafting and submitting manuscripts developed from the study data.”
For perspective on its spending, Johns Hopkins’ spokeswoman Jill Rosen pointed to the university’s position of leading the nation in research spending for the 43rd consecutive year, with $3.2 billion spent in FY 2021.
The National Science Foundation also funded $17,000 for Yale University to do doctoral dissertation research in Iran.
Both universities have large endowments — $40.7 billion for Yale, and about $8 billion for Johns Hopkins — and Yale, among other Ivy League schools, is being criticized for not rebuking the Hamas invasion of Israel.
TROUBLING INTEL
U.S. officials won’t say that Iran “gave the green light” to Hamas to attack Israel, as reported in The Wall Street Journal, or otherwise was directly involved in the planning or funding of the Oct. 7 attack.
But U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in an October 10th White House press briefing:
“Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense because they have provided the lion’s share of the funding for the military wing of Hamas, they have provided training, they have provided capabilities, they have provided support, and they have had engagement and contact with Hamas over years and years. And all of that has played a role in contributing to what we have seen.”
Sullivan continued, “Now, as to the question of whether Iran knew about this attack in advance or helped plan or direct this attack, we do not — as of the moment I’m standing here at the podium — have confirmation of that.”
According to unclassified U.S. documents,
‘‘Iran has historically provided up to $100 million annually in combined support to Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.’’
The U.S. knows Iran funds Hamas. Therefore: Freeing up $6 billion in a cash-for-hostages deal, trading $10 billion from Iraq for natural gas, or increasing Iranian oil output and revenues by $40 billion means America gave Iran billions in leeway it could use to empower Hamas, and indeed Iran’s entire terror network, to the detriment of our allies.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“We know that there were meetings in Syria and in Lebanon with other leaders of the terror armies that surround Israel, so obviously it’s easy to understand that they tried to coordinate,” said Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. “The proxies of Iran in our region, they tried to be coordinated as much as possible with Iran.”
ADDITIONAL READING:
Biden Pays, Rockets Fly: Administration Sent $1 Billion In Palestinian Aid After Trump’s Freeze | OpenTheBooks.Substack.com | October 17, 2023
Biden Reversed Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze To Expand Palestinian Funding—$6.3 Billion Since 1953 | Forbes | Adam Andrzejewski | May 2021
U.S. Resumption of Foreign Aid To The Palestinians | Congressional Research Service | April 2021
Mortar And Rocket Attacks Against Israel By Date | The Jewish Virtual Library, A Project of AICE | 2001 to the Present
