The White House is opposing a House bill that aims to block implementation of the Iran nuclear deal until Tehran pays billions of dollars in damages to victims of Iranian-sponsored terror.
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“Iran should not get a red cent in US sanctions relief until it has paid its victims what they are owed”, Meehan said in a statement announcing the bill earlier this month.
The Administration supports efforts by USA terrorism victims to pursue compensation, consistent with our national security, and the JCPOA does nothing to impede those efforts. “I oppose the Iran [nuclear] deal, but surely we can all agree that Iran should not reap any benefits form the USA until it has compensated the families of those whose lives were taken by Iranian terrorists”.
Iran has been accused of sponsoring the 1983 attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia and a number of other attacks on shopping centers and buses, along with hostage taking, but Iran refuses to pay damages, according to Voice of America. Per the JCPOA, an worldwide advisory group would finalize the new design, but that has not happened yet and, in turn, this presents a complicating factor because if Iran moves ahead with its commitment to remove the core and yet the West procrastinates on the new core, then Iran will be indefinitely deprived of a heavy water reactor that produces radio isotopes for various medical and other purposes.
It is unclear whether Meehan’s bill has enough support to win House approval.
The fear in the White House is that Iran might see the reauthorization as a provocation and that it might even lead Iran to walk away from what could be Obama’s signature foreign policy accomplishment.
“Speaking to a crowd of Iranian dissident activists, Dershowitz took President Barack Obama to task over the nuclear agreement: “[Obama] realizes that what the United States is doing today amounts essentially to a crime.
“Threatening the president’s ability to provide sanctions relief threatens the deal itself”. The Administration has consistently made clear that the goal of the nuclear negotiations, and ultimately the JCPOA, was to address one issue only – the global community’s concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and the need to verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. It includes a tough inspections regime to ensure Iran does not cheat. These rules are particularly problematic for Iran now as it is desperately seeking an influx of foreign direct investment to help it rebuild its sanctions-crippled economy.
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“The injustice of the USA government seeking to release $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets while turning a blind eye to the plight of the terror victims who hold unsatisfied judgments against the Iranians can not be permitted to continue”, explained Shurat Hadin founder, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.
