Report: Obama sought to sidestep Iran sanctions in 2016
http://hotair.com/archives/2018/06/06/report-obama-sought-sidestep-iran-sanctions-2016/
All of this investigation into what Donald Trump was up to in 2016 is certainly revealing some snakes as the various rocks are kicked over. Unfortunately for Democrats, not all of the uncovered secrets point fingers in the direction they were hoping. The latest revelation, showing up in an Associated Press report this morning, actually has to do with the hidden wrangling that went on in the Obama administration as they sought to hold the wildly unpopular Iran deal together. In this case, it looks like Team Obama sought to sidestep some of the sanctions and allow Iran to do some currency trading to free up cash which they weren't supposed to be able to access. The plan may not have worked, but the report alleges that the White House was definitely making the effort.
The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access - albeit briefly - to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping sanctions kept in place after the 2015 nuclear deal, despite repeatedly telling Congress and the public it had no plans to do so.
An investigation by Senate Republicans released Wednesday sheds light on the delicate balance the Obama administration sought to strike after the deal, as it worked to ensure Iran received its promised benefits without playing into the hands of the deal's opponents. Amid a tense political climate, Iran hawks in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere argued that the United States was giving far too much to Tehran and that the windfall would be used to fund extremism and other troubling Iranian activity.
The report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations revealed that under President Barack Obama, the Treasury Department issued a license in February 2016, never previously disclosed, that would have allowed Iran to convert $5.7 billion it held at a bank in Oman from Omani rials into euros by exchanging them first into U.S. dollars.
This wasn't just some discussion taking place in the Oval Office or a crazy idea they were kicking around. Obama actually issued the license to allow Iran to engage in the currency trading (without telling anyone) and was ready to let them do it. The only reason it didn't work was that the banks approached by the Iranians were afraid they would be found in violation of the sanctions and refused to put the currency exchange through. The offer was later withdrawn. ...
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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