[Rockstar]

Before Biden there was no war in the middle east because the Iranian regime had been brought to its knees. After only two years since Trump reinstated sanctions Iran was down to a meager $4 billion in reserves. U.S. energy sanctions cut Iran’s oil exports by more than 2 million barrels per day, depriving the regime of $70 billion that typically funds its budget.. Iran’s central bank controlled more than $120 billion in foreign exchange reserves. U.S. sanctions locked tens of those billions away in escrow accounts, and financial pressure forced Iran to draw down the accounts that remained open.

With barely any economic options, the regime was forced to cut payments to its regional terror proxies. While Iran fended off collapse, much of the rest of the Middle East breathed a sigh of relief. Several countries in the region made historic peace with one another. Progress was made by the Abraham Accords which were struck in August 2020 by Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States

But when Biden took office Iran fortunes changed and with an influx of cash again threatens to undo much of the progress made. How could this happen, just look at the list of Biden appointments I posted above.

How Biden’s Policy Enriched Iran
Failure to enforce oil sanctions has helped Tehran finance Hamas.

https://archive.ph/zMW8r

The Journal’s report that Iran signed off on the Hamas assault on Israel should jolt President Biden from his failed Iran strategy. A place to start would be honesty about how U.S. policy has financed Iran’s support for Hamas.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted over the weekend that the $6 billion the Administration unfroze in exchange for the release of five American prisoners wasn’t used to attack Israel. That may be technically true, but there’s no question the U.S. decision to ease enforcement of oil sanctions against Iran has aided Israel’s enemies.

Speaking of the proceeds from the $6 billion in unfrozen assets, Mr. Blinken said on ABC’s This Week that “not a single dollar from that account has actually been spent to date,” adding that “it’s very carefully and closely regulated by the Treasury Department to make sure that it’s only used for food, for medicine, for medical equipment.”

But money is fungible, and Tehran doubtless anticipated the increased cash flow when it plotted the attack. News reports say Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been coordinating with Hamas since August, which is about when the U.S. agreed to the prisoner swap that would give Iran access to the $6 billion.

More important, the U.S. also throttled back enforcement of oil sanctions, which gave Tehran billions more dollars to finance Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist proxies. Iran’s oil production jumped to three million barrels a day in August from 2.6 million in April, according to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries data.

Iran’s oil minister said in August the country’s oil production would hit 3.4 million barrels a day by the end of September, the highest since 2018 when the Trump Administration imposed sanctions. Its exports have increased even more—by about one million barrels a day this year—because it has also been shipping stored fuel, namely to China.

Fathom that: Iran has ramped up oil production at a faster rate than the U.S. as the Biden Administration turned a blind eye to its sanctions circumvention. Iran’s production surge occurred mostly over the summer as the Administration sought to strike a new nuclear deal with Tehran and counter rising U.S. gasoline prices.
The White House might say that this is necessary so Russia wouldn’t benefit from rising oil prices amid its agreement with Saudi Arabia to curtail production. But the Saudis scaled back production in part because of Iran’s growing exports, and Russia is benefiting anyway from higher oil prices by dodging the G-7’s price cap on its exports.

It’s fair to ask if the Administration has let Iran and Russia evade sanctions because it doesn’t want to be blamed for higher gas prices as it continues to add regulations to limit U.S. production. In any case, Tehran isn’t using the $30 billion to $40 billion it has generated from oil exports this year to buy food and medicine. It’s been arming Israel’s enemies and supporting Russia’s war machine as they seek to destroy America’s allies.