{"id":2223215,"date":"2024-04-17T13:05:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T17:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-wont-commit-to-enforcing-iran-sanctions-lawmakers-warn-its-empowering-putins-war-machine\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T13:09:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T17:09:25","slug":"biden-admin-wont-commit-to-enforcing-iran-sanctions-lawmakers-warn-its-empowering-putins-war-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-wont-commit-to-enforcing-iran-sanctions-lawmakers-warn-its-empowering-putins-war-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Administration hesitates to enforce Iran sanctions, raising concerns about bolstering &#8216;Putin&#8217;s War Machine,&#8217; lawmakers caution"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/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%2Fbiden-admin-wont-commit-to-enforcing-iran-sanctions-lawmakers-warn-its-empowering-putins-war-machine%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=2223215&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>A group of GOP lawmakers led by \u200dRep. Michael McCaul is urging \u200dthe Biden administration to\u200d clarify its stance on expired sanctions waivers benefiting Iran\u2062 and Russia&#8217;s nuclear activities, potentially \u2063fueling Moscow&#8217;s aggression \u2062in Ukraine. The administration&#8217;s lack of commitment to enforcing sanctions raises concerns about U.S. policy on nonproliferation and national security. The GOP lawmakers, spearheaded by \u2064Rep. Michael McCaul, are pressing the Biden administration to address \u200cexpired sanctions waivers that support Iran and Russia&#8217;s nuclear projects, possibly strengthening Moscow&#8217;s actions in Ukraine. \u2064The\u2063 administration&#8217;s reluctance to enforce sanctions sparks worries about U.S. positions on nonproliferation and security.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A group of GOP lawmakers is pressing the Biden administration to clarify its stance on a set of sanctions waivers that have enabled Iran and Russia to build out portions of Tehran\u2019s most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-iran-envoy-biden-admin-preparing-for-world-where-iran-doesnt-have-constraints-on-its-nuclear-program\/\" title=\"U.S. Iran Envoy: Biden Admin Preparing for \u2018World Where Iran Doesn\u2019t Have Constraints on Its Nuclear Program\u2019\">contested nuclear sites<\/a>, providing Moscow with cash that is powering its war on Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and three of his colleagues say the Biden administration has left Congress in the dark about the status of these nuclear waivers, which expired in January, the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/biden-admin-lets-sanctions-waiver-for-iran-russia-nuclear-work-expire-but-wont-commit-to-enforcing-those-sanctions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> last week. They <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/biden-gives-iran-and-russia-green-light-to-continue-nuclear-work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">provided<\/a> upwards of $10 billion in profit for Russian-state controlled firms, such as the Rosatom energy company, for work at Iran&#8217;s various nuclear plants, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-lets-sanctions-waiver-for-iran-russia-nuclear-work-expire-but-wont-commit-to-enforcing-those-sanctions\/\" title=\"Biden Administration Allows Sanctions Waiver on Iran-Russia Nuclear Work to Expire, Uncertain on Enforcement\">including contested military sites suspected<\/a> of housing the country&#8217;s atomic weapons program.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have been pressing the administration to nix these waivers for years. Now that they have expired, the State Department will not commit to enforcing sanctions that would otherwise apply. This is fueling confusion on Capitol Hill about U.S. policy toward Iran and Russia at a time when both countries are bolstering their military alliance, including a $50 billion investment by Tehran in several new Russian-made nuke plants.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Continuing to issue these waivers clearly does not serve U.S. nonproliferation objectives or national security interests,&#8221; McCaul <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/FILE_6405.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">writes<\/a> in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with Reps. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.), Thomas Kean (R., N.J.), and Keith Self (R., Texas), also foreign affairs committee members.<\/p>\n<p>The expiration of these waivers earlier this year &#8220;was a welcome step,&#8221; but the lawmakers are concerned &#8220;that by failing to take a clear stance on this, the administration is leaving the door open to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-prepared-to-lift-sanctions-on-irans-top-terrorism-financers-senator-says\/\" title=\"Biden Admin Prepared to Lift Sanctions on Iran\u2019s Top Terrorism Financers, Senator Says\">future sanctions relief<\/a> on Iran despite the potential benefits for Vladmir Putin\u2019s war machine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers say the administration\u2019s policy constitutes a &#8220;failure to hold Iran to account for its nuclear provocation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When asked last week by the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> to explain the administration\u2019s stance on the issue, a State Department spokesman would not say why the waivers were allowed to expire. U.S. officials, the spokesman said, are still &#8220;reviewing the waiver as part of the regular review process&#8221; and a public comment will only be given &#8220;once a decision is made as part of that review.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Congress has been left fishing for answers about U.S. policy at a time when Russia and Iran are using their alliance to foment chaos across the Middle East and in Europe. Iran has provided lethal drone technology to Moscow, which has in turn helped Tehran expand its nuclear infrastructure. Amid the worst Middle East war in decades, Iran has been marching closer to an atomic weapon, enriching uranium to levels needed to fuel a bomb.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Iran\u2019s stockpiling of highly enriched uranium and continued installation of advanced IR-6 centrifuges undermines any claim of Iran maintaining an exclusively peaceful nuclear program,&#8221; the lawmakers write. &#8220;Iran is now capable of producing seven bombs worth of fissile material in a month. This level of enrichment has no justifiable civilian purpose.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>McCaul and his colleagues are pressing the State Department to clarify its stance on the waivers and enforce &#8220;the full scope of the law, including mandatory sanctions&#8221; that are required under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, a sanctions bill that became law in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>When the sanctions waivers were in place, the lawmakers write, Iran began hiding portions of its nuclear program from international inspectors, leaving them in the dark about Iran&#8217;s enrichment activities.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s obfuscation, they said, &#8220;raises further concerns about Iran\u2019s nuclear program and our adversaries\u2019 role in enabling it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, Iran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranintl.com\/en\/202404086748\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> plans to expand its Russian-made nuclear plant known as Bushehr, a suspected weapons site, as well as a $50 billion investment in other facilities. Construction is slated to pick up pace in May.\t<\/p>\n<p>Iran also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/iran-begins-building-4-more-nuclear-power-plants\/7467128.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">broke ground<\/a> on four new nuclear power plants earlier this year, with regional experts suspecting that both China and Russia may be assisting with the projects.<\/p>\n<p>Amid this activity, the Biden administration &#8220;has extended significant financial relief to entice Iran to agree to a new nuclear deal,&#8221; according to the lawmakers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A GOP lawmakers&#8217; group urges the Biden administration to clarify its position on sanctions waivers facilitating Iran and Russia&#8217;s nuclear site development. This aids Moscow financially in its conflict with Ukraine. Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas) leads the call for clarity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":2223216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-865502256_736x514.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2223215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-865502256_736x514.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223215","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\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2223215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2223216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2223215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2223215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2223215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}