Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Trump-Pence Press Release: The Obama Administration’s Terror Money Airlift

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/the-obama-administrations-terror-money-airlift

- August 03, 2016 -

The Obama Administration’s Terror Money Airlift

Reports Published Today Show The Obama Administration Gave Iran, The World’s Foremost State Sponsor Of Terrorism, $400 Million In Hard Currency – Money That Will Undoubtedly Find Its Way Into The Hands Of Terrorists 
This Year The Obama Administration “Secretly Organized An Airlift Of $400 Million Worth Of Cash To Iran” Via “Wooden Pallets Stacked With Euros, Swiss Francs And Other Currencies” On “An Unmarked Cargo Plane.”“The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward. Wooden pallets stacked with Euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane, according to these officials.”(Jay Solomon And Carol E. Lee, “U.S. Sent Cash To Iran As Americans Were Freed,”The Wall Street Journal, 8/2/16)
The $400 Million In Hard Currency Was The “First Installment Of A $1.7 Billion Settlement The Obama Administration Reached With Iran.”“The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward. … The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.”(Jay Solomon And Carol E. Lee, “U.S. Sent Cash To Iran As Americans Were Freed,”The Wall Street Journal, 8/2/16)
“The $400 Million Was Paid In Foreign Currency Because Any Transaction With Iran In U.S. Dollars Is Illegal Under U.S. Law.”(Jay Solomon And Carol E. Lee, “U.S. Sent Cash To Iran As Americans Were Freed,”The Wall Street Journal, 8/2/16)
Iran Is Recognized As “The Foremost State Sponsor Of Terrorism”:
National Director Of Intelligence James Clapper: “Iran—The Foremost State Sponsor Of Terrorism—Continues To Exert Its Influence In Regional Crises In The Middle East.”“Iran—the foremost state sponsor of terrorism—continues to exert its influence in regional crises in the Middle East through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—Qods Force (IRGC-QF), its terrorist partner Lebanese Hizballah, and proxy groups. It also provides military and economic aid to its allies in the region. Iran and Hizballah remain a continuing terrorist threat to US interests and partners worldwide. (James R. Clapper, Statement For The Record,U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, PP. 10, 2/9/16)
The State Department’s Annual Country Report On Terrorism Listed Iran As A State Sponsor Of Terrorism And Said That They Had Increased Their Activity In 2015.“Designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984, Iran continued its terrorist-related activity in 2015, including support for Hizballah, Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. In 2015, Iran increased its assistance to Iraqi Shia terrorist groups, including Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), which is a U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, as part of an effort to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and bolster the Asad regime in Syria. Iran used the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to implement foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations, and create instability in the Middle East. The IRGC-QF is Iran’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad.”(State Department’s Annual Country Report On Terrorism, U.S. State Department, Chapter 3-State Sponsored Terrorism, 6/2/16)
Iran Has Been Funding Terrorist Groups Working Against U.S Interests In Their Region:
Iran Has Been Assisting Hizballah Rearm Since 2006 And Has Given Their Organization In Lebanon “Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars.”“Since the end of the 2006 Israeli-Hizballah conflict in 2006, Iran has also assisted in rearming Hizballah, in direct violation of UNSCR 1701. Iran has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Hizballah in Lebanon and has trained thousands of its fighters at camps in Iran. These trained fighters have used these skills in direct support of the Asad regime in Syria and, to a lesser extent, in support of operations against ISIL in Iraq. They have also carried out isolated attacks along the Lebanese border with Israel.”(State Department’s Annual Country Report On Terrorism, U.S. State Department, Chapter 3-State Sponsored Terrorism, 6/2/16)
Iran Has Funded And Armed Shia Terrorist Groups In Iraq That Have “Exacerbated Sectarian Tensions In Iraq And Have Committed Serious Human Rights Abuses Against Primarily Sunni Civilians.”“In Iraq, Iranian combat forces employed rockets, artillery, and drones against ISIL. Iran also increased its arming and funding of Iraqi Shia terrorist groups in an effort to reverse ISIL gains in Iraq. Many of these groups, such as KH, have exacerbated sectarian tensions in Iraq and have committed serious human rights abuses against primarily Sunni civilians. The IRGC-QF, in concert with Hizballah, provided training outside of Iraq, as well as advisors inside Iraq for Shia militants in the construction and use of advanced weaponry. Similar to Hizballah fighters, many of these trained Shia militants have used these skills to fight for the Asad regime in Syria or against ISIL in Iraq.”(State Department’s Annual Country Report On Terrorism, U.S. State Department, Chapter 3-State Sponsored Terrorism, 6/2/16)
Iran Has Been Funding Hamas And Other Terrorist Groups Carrying Out Attacks Against Israel.“Iran has historically provided weapons, training, and funding to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, including Palestine Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. These Palestinian terrorist groups have been behind a number of deaths from attacks originating in Gaza and the West Bank. Although Hamas’s ties to Tehran have been strained due to the Syrian civil war, both sides took steps in 2015 to repair relations. Iran continued to declare its vocal support for Palestinian terrorist groups and its hostility to Israel in 2015. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Admiral Ali Shamkhani sought to frame a series of individual Palestinian attacks on Israeli security forces in the West Bank as a new “Intifada” in a speech on November 25.”(State Department’s Annual Country Report On Terrorism, U.S. State Department, Chapter 3-State Sponsored Terrorism, 6/2/16)
Iran Has Remained Unwilling To Bring Justice To Senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) Members.“Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) members it continued to detain and refused to publicly identify the members in its custody. Iran previously allowed AQ facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.”(State Department’s Annual Country Report On Terrorism, U.S. State Department, Chapter 3-State Sponsored Terrorism, 6/2/16)