Bid to undo Bam on Iran
Pol: Reopen nuke-crime cases
Needless s to say, the Obama Ad dministration appears to o have done serious da amage to our nationall security. — House Foreign Affairs Com mmittee Chair Ed Royce (inset), in letter to Secretary of State R ex Tillerson and AG Jeff Sessions
A congressional committee chairman has asked the Trump administration to revive criminal cases against Iranian weapons traffickers that the Obama administration “unwisely abandoned.”
In a letter obtained by The Post, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce called for a stepped-up law-enforcement effort to target individuals assisting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
In addition, Royce wants to reopen criminal cases involving Iranians that the Obama administration scrapped in effort to make a nuclear deal with Tehran.
“We hope you evaluate the feasibility of re-opening the cases that were wrongly hindered,” Royce (R-Calif.) wrote Tuesday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The request comes after Politico reported Monday that thenPresident Barack Obama halted criminal cases against 14 fugitives and freed seven Iranians to secure the release of Americans held hostage in Iran.
Despite public statements to the contrary, some of the men who were granted release posed a threat to national security and were aiding Iran in obtaining materials for its weapons programs.
“Needless to say, the Obama Administration appears to have done serious damage to our national security,” Royce said in the letter.
The whereabouts of the seven released Iranians are not known.
Critics said Obama’s Iran policy sold out US interests and jeopardized Israel.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-LI) blasted it as “brutally incompetent” considering the backgrounds of the Iranians.
“Once again, we are reminded of how brutally incompetent President Obama’s foreign policy was, especially as it related to Iran,” Zeldin he said in a statement to The Post.
“I can’t say that I am surprised in the least by these most recent findings of secrecy, lacking transparency, and utter incompetency. The Obama administra- tion sought to appease the Iranians at any and all cost.”
Zeldin was the only Republican Jewish member of Congress when the Iran deal was implemented last year. He’s no longer alone with the addition this year of Tennessee Rep. David Kustoff.
Zeldin has called for more pushback against all of Iran’s threatening activities, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, sponsoring terrorism and working to overthrow foreign governments.
“We must re-establish our leverage with sanctions and other tools that would force the Iranians to the table in the first place,” Zeldin said.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that the White House has already toughened US policy by rejecting a State Department letter that declared Iran in compliance with the nuclear deal, insisting on far tougher language.
The final version highlighted Iran’s threatening regional behavior and called into question the US’s long-term support for the nuclear agreement, the report said.