{"id":537849,"date":"2021-05-23T15:50:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T19:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=537849"},"modified":"2021-05-23T15:50:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T19:50:19","slug":"sec-blinken-wont-say-whether-he-believes-iran-is-funding-hamas-even-after-the-terror-group-admitted-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sec-blinken-wont-say-whether-he-believes-iran-is-funding-hamas-even-after-the-terror-group-admitted-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Sec. Blinken Won\u2019t Say Whether He Believes Iran Is Funding Hamas Even After The Terror Group Admitted It"},"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\">36<\/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%2Fsec-blinken-wont-say-whether-he-believes-iran-is-funding-hamas-even-after-the-terror-group-admitted-it%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=537849&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blinken-e1618235259988.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken could not definitively answer Sunday if Iran is funding Hamas, saying instead that the would-be nuclear state \u201cis engaged in a number of activities.\u201d Hamas\u2019s leader thanked Iran Friday for supplying military support, according to numerous reports.<\/p>\n<p>Blinken appeared Sunday on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week,\u201d where he addressed both the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/20\/bernie-sanders-joins-ocasio-cortez-tlaib-block-735-million-arms-sale-israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recent move<\/a> by Congress Democrats to stall a $735 million&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/17\/joe-biden-administration-approves-735-million-weapons-sale-israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">arms sale<\/a> to Israel and Iran\u2019s alleged funding of Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>After a mere hours following the Friday <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/20\/breaking-israel-reportedly-agrees-ceasefire-gaza\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announcement of ceasefire<\/a> between Israel and Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader in Hamas thanked \u201cthe Islamic Republic of Iran; who did not hold back with money, weapons and technical support,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/middle-east\/hamas-haniyeh-vows-to-destabilize-jerusalem-thanks-iran-for-support-668791\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according<\/a> to Jerusalem Post.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WATCH<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe president reiterated strong support for Israel on Friday, but he\u2019s coming under increased pressure from progressives,\u201d George Stephanopoulos, the show\u2019s anchor, said, referring to <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/14\/israeli-palestinian-conflict-moderate-democrats-squad-nancy-pelosi-aoc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pro-Palestinian statements and resolutions<\/a> by Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan and Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/23\/bernie-sanders-hamas-israel-arms-sale-ban\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bernie Sanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s your response to that?\u201d Stephanopoulos asked Blinken.<\/p>\n<p>The secretary of state said that he prefers focusing on the policies and leaves the politics to others. He then proceeded to tout President Joe Biden\u2019s \u201crelentless focus on diplomacy\u201d which he said has produced the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/20\/biden-addresses-israel-hamas-ceasefire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ceasefire<\/a> between Israel and Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Blinken also spoke in favor of the arms sale, arguing that Israel has the right to defend itself from \u201cindiscriminate rocket attacks against civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re committed to Israel\u2019s defense,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The show\u2019s host then brought up a May 13 <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/13\/senate-republicans-marco-rubio-pat-toomey-iran-israel-hamas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a> by a group of Senate Republicans, in which the lawmakers urged Biden to stop offering sanction relief to Iran, citing its funding of Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you believe that Iran is funding Hamas? And if they are, should the sanctions stay in place?,\u201d Stephanopoulos asked Blinken.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, George, Iran is engaged in a number of activities, including funding extremist groups, supporting terrorism more broadly, supporting very dangerous proxies that are taking destabilizing actions throughout the Middle East, proliferating weapons,\u201d Blinken responded. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/13\/joe-lieberman-warns-biden-administration-pursuing-iran-nuclear-deal-any-price\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: \u2018They\u2019re Our Enemies\u2019: Joe Lieberman Warns Biden Admin Against Pursuing Iran Nuclear Deal \u2018At Any Price\u2019)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The secretary of state also said that the first priority is to bring Iran back into \u201ccompliance with the nuclear agreement, the so-called JCPOA,\u201d and that Former President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cmaximum pressure \u2026 clearly did not get the result that we all seek.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Iranians say the decision \u2026 to lift some of the sanctions has already been made. Is that true?\u201d the host inquired.<\/p>\n<p>Blinken avoided giving a straightforward answer to this question, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re about to have our, I think, fifth round of discussions in Vienna with the Iranians. And what these discussions and talks \u2026 have done is they\u2019ve clarified what each side needs to do in order to come back into compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know what sanctions would need to be lifted if they\u2019re inconsistent with the nuclear agreement, but as important and indeed more important, Iran, I think, knows what it needs to do to come back into compliance on the nuclear side. And what we haven\u2019t seen is whether Iran is ready and willing to make a decision to do what it has to do. That\u2019s the test and we don\u2019t yet have an answer,\u201d Blinken stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken could not definitively answer Sunday if Iran is funding Hamas, saying instead that the would-be nuclear state \u201cis engaged in a number of activities.\u201d Hamas\u2019s &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312759,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blinken-e1618235259988.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Sec. Blinken Won\u2019t Say Whether He Believes Iran Is Funding Hamas Even After The Terror Group Admitted It","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-537849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blinken-e1618235259988.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Sec. Blinken Won\u2019t Say Whether He Believes Iran Is Funding Hamas Even After The Terror Group Admitted It","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537849","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}