OpsLens

Obama Secretly Released Dangerous Iranian Arms Smugglers As Part of Nuclear Deal

If confirmed, this revelation only further damages the reputation of Obama’s heavily scrutinized deal with Iran.

An in-depth investigative report by Politico has found that the Obama Administration released several dangerous, high profile Iranian weapons smugglers and spies while negotiating the nuclear deal. The releases were made as part of an effort to get Iran to agree to terms of the deal. At the time, the prisoners released were described as minor, non-security threats in violation of relatively benign sanctions laws.

Politico alleges, however, that several of the prisoners released were identified as national security threats by the Justice Department. Three men, for example, were involved in an illegal procurement ring to deliver micro-electronics for weapons guidance systems. The men were found guilty of stealing American military secrets and sentenced to prison, but the Obama administration released them anyways. One engineer was even allowed to keep the $10,000,000 dollar payment that Tehran allegedly made in exchange for American military technology and secrets.

Meanwhile, besides releasing Iranian prisoners, the Obama administration also dropped charges and allegations against 14 other people linked to Tehran. The charges varied among the men, but several were caught trying to acquire military technology and weapons that they would then ship to Iran. Charges against these arms dealers were dropped, much to the dismay of the Justice Department.

In an even bigger concession, charges were dropped against Seyed Abolfazl Shahab Jamili, who allegedly helped Iran acquire various technologies, such as uranium sensors, that could be used in nuclear weapons developments. From 2005 to 2012 Jamili acquired thousands of parts, primarily from China, that may have nuclear technology implications. The Obama administration, however, agreed not to pursue charges against him even though he was one of the key enablers of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Reportedly, prosecutors and officials at the Justice Department were shocked and angry that the administration was caving in on these high value targets. Despite the Obama administration’s claim that these were “small fish”, many within the Justice Department felt that these men represented grave threats to the United States.

Beyond releasing prisoners, the Obama administration went as far as to undermine its own National Counterproliferation Initiative. This program was proving effective at pursuing and disrupting Iranian efforts to acquire nuclear technologies, but the previous administration began sidelining investigations in order to curry favor with Tehran.

Ali Safavi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said, “these disgraceful concessions by the Obama administration to the Iranian regime, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, have only emboldened the mullahs to step up their malign activities in the Middle East and to continue their elicit nuclear weapons work with impunity, further undermining regional and global peace and security.”

President Trump has thus far upheld the Iran nuclear deal, however, the administration has announced that it is conducting a full review. Trump himself went as far as to suggest that even if Tehran is meeting the stipulations of the deal, it is not living up to the spirit of it.