{"id":1619779,"date":"2022-08-23T07:31:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T11:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1619779"},"modified":"2022-08-23T07:31:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T11:31:24","slug":"bidens-iran-appeasement-has-always-been-about-personal-legacy-not-national-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-iran-appeasement-has-always-been-about-personal-legacy-not-national-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden\u2019s Iran Appeasement Has Always Been About Personal Legacy, Not National Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbidens-iran-appeasement-has-always-been-about-personal-legacy-not-national-security%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1619779&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Joe Biden is considering whether to grant Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a known mass murderer and human rights abuser, a visa request in order for the Iranian leader to enter the U.S. and speak at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting in New York next month.<\/p>\n<p>As the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-united-nations-general-assembly-zelenskyy-biden-covid-0d45eaf5de9d674c71141dc8ae309b17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, Raisi is among the nearly 160 world leaders who \u201csay they plan to attend September\u2019s first totally in-person gathering\u201d at the UN General Assembly \u201csince the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020,\u201d with additional leaders on the provisional list of speakers including \u201cU.S. President Joe Biden, Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, [and] King Abdullah II of Jordan,\u201d among many others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[I]t\u2019s clear from the provisional speakers list released [on July 18] that over 80% of leaders of the U.N.\u2019s 193 member nations want to address the annual gathering in person and engage in many of the off-the-record meetings and conversations where a lot of international business is conducted,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n<p>In light of Raisi\u2019s purported plans to attend the upcoming summit, a delegation of Republican senators comprised of Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa, Ted Cruz of Texas, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas has since pressured Biden to deny the Iranian leader a visa to enter the U.S., with the group highlighting Raisi\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2022\/aug\/15\/biden-under-pressure-ban-iranian-president-upcomin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">horrendous human rights record<\/a> and the Iranian regime\u2019s recent efforts to assassinate U.S. officials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaisi\u2019s involvement in mass murder and the Iranian regime\u2019s campaign to assassinate U.S. officials on American soil make allowing Raisi and his henchmen to enter our country an inexcusable threat to national security,\u201d the senators wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rubio.senate.gov\/public\/_cache\/files\/b5749e17-1886-4e3f-87ac-a16b68ca7436\/27D4DD1AD3503BB326703DA9224B4A8E.raisi-letter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a>. \u201cIf recent reports are true that Raisi plans to attend the UN General Assembly, the White House must deny Raisi and other Iranian officials visas to attend.\u00a0 Allowing Raisi to travel to the United States\u2014while his agents actively work to assassinate senior American officials on U.S. soil\u2014would gravely endanger our national security, given the likely presence of [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] agents in the Iranian delegation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who along with former National Security Adviser John Bolton were targets of Iranian assassination plots, issued similar remarks, telling the <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/pompeo-presses-biden-to-deny-iranian-president-a-us-visa-citing-active-terror-plots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Washington Free Beacon<\/a> that the Biden administration \u201cis allowing [Iranian terrorits] to come to New York City while actively engaged in efforts to kill Americans on\u00a0U.S.\u00a0soil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Iranians just recently sponsored an attack that was almost successful\u00a0in killing an American in [New York],\u201d he said referencing the apparent <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/12\/rushdie-stabbing-reminds-us-that-iran-is-still-worlds-leading-terror-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Iranian assassination attempt<\/a> on British author Salman Rushdie.\u00a0\u201cWe can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2019, Raisi was among numerous Iranian government officials <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/sm824\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sanctioned<\/a> by the Trump administration \u201cfor advancing Iran\u2019s radical agenda.\u201d During his time as the head of Iran\u2019s judiciary, Raisi held \u201cadministrative oversight over the executions of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime,\u201d as well as the \u201ctorture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in Iran, including amputations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When pressed by The Federalist on whether the administration plans to grant Raisi and his delegation visas to enter the United States, a Biden State Department official declined to provide a definitive answer on the matter, claiming that \u201cvisa records are confidential under U.S. law\u201d and that the United States must fulfill its previously made commitments to the UN.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs host nation of the UN, the United States is generally obligated under the UN Headquarters Agreement to facilitate travel to the UN headquarters district by representatives of UN member states. We take our obligations under the UN Headquarters Agreement seriously,\u201d the representative said. \u201cAt the same time, the Biden Administration has not and will not waver in protecting and defending all Americans against threats of violence and terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As noted in the <a href=\"https:\/\/usun.usmission.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/296\/218083.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">agreement<\/a> cited by the administration, however, the United States retains the authority to protect its national security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing in the [UN Headquarters] agreement shall be construed as in any way diminishing, abridging, or weakening the right of the United States to safeguard its own security and completely to control the entrance of aliens into any territory of the United States other than the headquarters district and its immediate vicinity,\u201d the document reads.<\/p>\n<h2>Biden Caters to Iran<\/h2>\n<p>While Biden\u2019s refusal to bar Raisi from entering the U.S. is foolish, it\u2019s not surprising. Since taking office over a year and a half ago, Biden and his team have repeatedly worked to appease Iran\u2019s authoritarian leadership as a means of coercing Tehran into signing a new nuclear deal. <\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, for instance, the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/05\/iran-dismisses-joe-bidens-nuke-sanctions-lift-as-not-enough\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notified<\/a> Congress that it had \u201crestored so-called \u2018civ-nuke\u2019 waivers,\u201d on Iran, which would allow for \u201cnon-American companies to work on civilian nuclear projects\u201d in the Middle Eastern country \u201cwithout drawing retaliation from the US government.\u201d Moreover, the administration also reportedly took <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/national-security\/575948-biden-lifts-sanctions-on-two-iranian-missile-producers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">action<\/a> in October 2021 to lift sanctions on two Iranian entities \u201cinvolved in the military missile programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As reported by The Hill, \u201cThe\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/policy-issues\/financial-sanctions\/recent-actions\/20211008\">sanctions<\/a>, targeting the Mammut Industrial Group (Mammut Industries) and its subsidiary Mammut Diesel, were originally imposed by the Trump administration in September 2020 as part of efforts to increase a maximum pressure campaign of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear activity and actions in the region criticized as malign and destabilizing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Personal Legacy over Security<\/h2>\n<p>While it\u2019s not shocking for Biden to make a major foreign policy blunder given his disastrous presidency thus far, the reckless push for a new Iran deal reeks of something different than simply pure incompetence. For Biden, the rabid obsession with securing a new nuclear agreement \u2014 no matter its efficacy in containing Iran\u2019s push for nuclear weapons \u2014 isn\u2019t based on global security so much as it is his personal legacy.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike his predecessor, who brought peace in the Middle East through <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/09\/15\/trump-signs-historic-abraham-accords-for-peace-in-the-middle-east\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">numerous treaties<\/a> between Arab states, Biden\u2019s foreign policy in the region has been a complete disaster. In addition to his appeasement of Iran, Biden also botched the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/16\/americas-botched-afghanistan-withdrawal-last-year-was-entirely-bidens-fault\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">United States\u2019 withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/a>, leaving behind hundreds of American citizens and billions of dollars worth of military equipment for the Taliban to use against the Afghan people.<\/p>\n<p>For Biden, getting Iran to sign on to a new nuclear deal would mean covering up his failure in Afghanistan and stamping his name in the textbooks of history as the president who managed to tame the beast of the Middle East known as Iran. Like any other policy issued by the Biden administration, it doesn\u2019t matter how effective any new deal would be at stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, or whether Tehran would abide by such an agreement. So long as he gives the appearance of \u201cdoing something,\u201d it seems Biden couldn\u2019t care less what the long-term effect of any deal is.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the day, the lesson for Iran is this: You can plot to assassinate U.S. officials, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/world\/iran-still-top-state-sponsor-terrorism-u-s-report-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fund terrorism<\/a> across the globe, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eutimes.net\/2019\/10\/iran-threatens-to-wipe-israel-off-the-map-in-30-minutes-if-they-make-a-mistake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threaten<\/a> to wipe Israel off the map, and Joe Biden still might roll out the red carpet for you at the United Nations to spew anti-Western propaganda for the world to hear.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden is considering whether to grant Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a known mass murderer and human rights abuser, a visa request in order for the Iranian leader to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1619779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1619779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1619779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1619779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1619779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1619779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1619779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}