Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statement after the Institute for Science and International Security released a report today that the Obama Administration gave the Iranian regime secret loopholes to keep Iran compliant with last year’s nuclear deal. The report states that Iran did not limit their nuclear stocks and facilities by Implementation Day in direct violation of the parameters set by the P5+1 nuclear deal.
“To recap the perks given to Iran by the Obama Administration since signing the nuclear deal, Iran has been given sanctions relief, a financial windfall, ransom money, less oversight, and freedom to test ballistic missiles. Now, according to today’s report, we can add secret loopholes to that list. It’s as if the president is going out of his way to keep the American people in the dark about the details of this dangerous deal.”
“It’s obvious from this report that the Obama Administration thought it was more important to keep a politically expedient deadline than to ensure terrorists never develop nuclear weapons. The world will undoubtedly be a more dangerous place if the Iranian regime builds a nuclear arsenal, and I will continue to fight against this terrible deal to ensure the safety and security of the United States and its allies.”
SEPTEMBER 14, 2015, 10:40 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015, 7:11 AM
BY MIKE KELLY
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
It is considered a footnote in the contentious debate over the Iran nuclear deal.
But for the families of several New Jersey residents who were killed years ago in Iran-sponsored attacks, the deal’s promised return to Iran of billions of dollars in assets that were frozen years ago is nothing less than a blow to the war on terror.
Estimates of the amount of money in play range from $50 billion to about $150 billon, with opponents of the deal more likely to cite a higher figure. Many victims’ families looked to the frozen funds as a potential target — if an elusive one — to collect in court judgments against Iran for its role in planning terrorist attacks dating to the 1980s.
Supporters of the deal, however, say that the attempt by victims of terrorism to tap into the frozen assets is misguided and a back-door attempt to derail implementation of the accord, which the Obama administration says will prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. Much of the money is already committed to paying other bills in Iran’s oil trade with Asian and European nations.
Regardless, the fate of the money has emerged as a dividing point in the debate over the deal — and future dealings with Iran.
“It’s a nightmare,” said Stephen Flatow of West Orange, whose 20-year-old daughter, Alisa, was killed in an Iranian-financed bus bombing in the Gaza Strip in 1995.
That event sparked Flatow’s nearly two-decade court battle to punish Iran by tapping into its financial holdings in America and across the world.
Along with Flatow, the families of American victims killed in dozens of terror attacks across the Middle East may lose out on the chance to collect as much as $20 billion in outstanding court judgments if Iran is able to recover all of its financial holdings that were frozen under international economic sanctions, some of which were imposed as punishment for those terrorist activities.
“This is about bills owed, payment owed,” said Arline Duker of Teaneck, whose 22-year-old daughter, Sara, was killed in another Iran-backed bus bombing in Jerusalem in 1996. Duker later followed Flatow in filing a lawsuit against Iran.
“These are not about new sanctions,” she said “This is about payment of a debt. The whole idea is for Iran to acknowledge what it did.”
The debate over Iran’s leading role in sponsoring terrorism dates back decades to a period when Iranian-backed terrorist proxies such as the Hezbollah group in Lebanon and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank regularly attacked U.S. targets.
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump warns Americans that “Israel will not survive” if the incompetence of the political class continues to dictate our foreign policy.
Trump appeared Wednesday at the rally to stop the Iran nuclear deal in front of the U.S. Capitol. Preceded by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
96%, who called Trump his “friend,” and entering to raucous applause against the backdrop of REM’s classic hit “It’s The End of the World As We Know It,” Trump pulled no punches.
“Never, ever ever in my life have I seen any transaction so incompetently negotiated as our deal with Iran,” Trump said. “And I mean never.”
Trump discussed the $150 billion signing bonus the Iranians get as part of the deal, and then turned his attention to the four hostages being held in the Islamic country, including Christian pastor Saeed Abedini.
“If I win the presidency I guarantee you that those four prisoners are back in our country before I ever take office,” Trump said. “They will be back before I ever take office. They know it and if they don’t know it, I’m telling them right now.”
Trump addressed Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Wednesday tweet declaring that Israel will not survive the next 25 years.
“Our president is calling the person who is really the boss in Iran ‘Supreme Leader,’” Trump said. “It just came out a little while ago, he said Israel will not exist in 25 years…He also said very very strongly that this is the end of our dealings with the United States…So, they rip us off, they take our money, they make us look like fools, and now theyre back to being who they are. They don’t want Israel to survive…with incompetent leadership like we have right now, Israel will NOT survive.”
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER and JONATHAN WEISMANAUG. 6, 2015
WASHINGTON — Senator Chuck Schumer, the most influential Jewish voice in Congress, said Thursday night that he would opposePresident Obama’s deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
“Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed,” Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a lengthy statement. “This has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor, and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval.”
Mr. Schumer had spent the last several weeks carrying a dog-eared copy of the agreement in his briefcase and meeting with Mr. Obama and officials like Wendy R. Sherman, the deal’s chief negotiator. With his decision, he paves the way for other Democrats on the fence to join Republicans in showing their disapproval.
Americans who were held hostage in Iran from 1979 to 1981 are pushing the Obama administration to demand that they be compensated as part of any nuclear deal.
Dozens of the hostages and their families will meet with lawmakers’ staffs early next week to reiterate their call for compensation from Iran, which has gone unanswered in the 35 years since they were held prisoner.
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) has filed two amendments to Iran legislation that would “ensure that resolving the issue of compensation for hostages is considered” prior to any nuclear agreement, a source familiar with the amendments told The Hill.
Isakson proposed the amendments to legislation introduced by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) that would require congressional review of any deal the administration brokers with Tehran. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to move forward with the legislation on Tuesday.
A State Department official noted that the administration has in the past backed Isakson’s bipartisan efforts on compensating the hostages, but suggested the issue would not be part of the nuclear talks.
