Old Joe Biden watched Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Congress Wednesday and pronounced the Ukrainian president “convincing.” Biden said that “Putin is inflicting appalling — appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine — bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I mean, it’s — it’s God awful.” As a result, “We are crippling Putin’s economy with punishing sanctions that’s going to only grow more painful over time with the entire NATO and EU behind us, and many other countries.” The old man boasted that “the American people are answering President Zelenskyy’s call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression.” Biden insisted that “it’s about freedom.” It all sounded great, but he didn’t mention one key detail: his handlers’ new nuke deal with Iran will give Russia ten billion dollars. So who is paying for all that Russian aggression? A large chunk of this cash will be coming from you and me.
The Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday that “Russia’s top state-controlled energy company,” Rosatom, “is set to cash in on a $10 billion contract to build out one of Iran’s most contested nuclear sites as part of concessions granted in the soon-to-be-announced nuclear agreement that will guarantee sanctions on both countries are lifted.”
Rosatom is set to work on the Bushehr nuclear plant in Tehran. According to the Free Beacon, “Russia and the Biden administration confirmed on Tuesday that the new nuclear agreement includes carveouts that will waive sanctions on both countries so that Russia can make good on this contract.”
State Department Spokesman Ned Price tried to paint a happy face on this fiasco, claiming that “we, of course, would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA,” that is, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Obama’s disastrous 2015 nuclear deal. Of course.
And so Russia will get ten billion dollars from Iran to spruce up one of its nuclear plants, and where will that money come from? Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department official, explained on March 7 that “Iran is set to get access to a massive windfall of cash: My latest estimate (derived from figures declassified during my tenure at the State Department) is $90 billion in access to foreign exchange reserves, and then a further $50-$55 billion in extra revenue each year from higher oil and petrochemical exports, with no restrictions on how or where the money can be spent. Personally, the most troubling transfer of funds will be the $7 billion ransom payment the United States is preparing to pay for the release of four Americans from an Iranian jail. Now, let me be clear: I would be extremely glad to bring these Americans back home safely as quickly as possible. They are innocent victims who, along with their families, have suffered unjustly for far too long. But make no mistake: Biden’s payment will only supercharge Iran’s hostage-taking industry.”
Related: Is Biden Confused, or Is the White House Sending Mixed Messages on Russia?
Of course: if you pay to free hostages, more hostages will be taken. It’s the law of supply and demand. So American taxpayers will be paying $7 billion to Iran, along with a massive infusion of money from the removal of sanctions and more, amounting to nearly $150 billion. And then Iran will turn around and send $10 billion to Russia.
What will Vladimir Putin do with that money? Will he use it to finance his invasion of Ukraine? Will it pay for more tanks or more jets to inflict more misery on the Ukrainians? If Old Joe’s handlers are moving against Russia so aggressively, why are they allowing it to get this windfall? How can Russia be engaged in a criminal invasion that we are condemning and opposing on one hand and financing on the other?
Noronha declares: “Rosatom’s projects in Iran are crucial to the company’s future financial viability—that’s exactly why we should shut them down by disrupting their foreign contracts—especially those with a regime like Iran. We’re doing the opposite. The United States should sanction Rosatom for its involvement in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but in classic fashion, we’re giving them full sanctions immunity that will stabilize Rosatom’s finances….Providing Rosatom a guaranteed $10 billion lifeline right now is just another example of how this administration is undermining all its anti-Russia rhetoric with hidden technical concessions that keep Putin and his cronies’ companies afloat. It’s got to stop.”
Indeed. But will it? Nah.
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