Tehran is loudly threatening to pull out of the accord unless it gets access to the US financial system. It would have to settle for the measly $150 billion in cash it’s already pocketed, plus the end of global sanctions.
Valiollah Seif, head of Iran’s central bank, charged last Friday that Washington isn’t living up to its part of the deal because “we are not able to use our frozen funds abroad.” Unless that’s resolved, he said, “the deal breaks up on its own accord.”
Don’t expect Team Obama to even think about calling Iran’s bluff.
In fact, the State Department has already written all 50 governors asking them to reconsider their states’ sanctions on Iran.
Yet most of those sanctions aren’t about Iran’s nuclear program but its support of terrorism, its missile program, its general oppression of its own citizens, etc.
And the Financial Action Task Force, a global body that combats money-laundering and terror-financing, just declared it remains “exceptionally concerned” about Iran’s continued financial support for international terrorism.
Indeed, FATF urged all members to “apply effective counter-measures” to protect their financial sectors against “risks emanating from Iran.”
Yet the administration is reportedly moving to do the opposite — looking to let Iran access dollars via a Hong Kong clearinghouse.
It’s one reason this rancid deal was never submitted to Congress as a treaty: Obama keeps having to change the terms to please Tehran. As things stand, he’ll likely keep on with it until Iran gets everything it wants.
