Free Republic

The Biden administration has rolled back sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela in a disastrous move being heavily criticized by Hispanic voters here in the United States—many of whom are in the U.S. because they or their families fled the socialist regimes. President Joe Biden's administration mobilized Tuesday to ease economic sanctions against oil-rich Venezuela just one day after lifting several Trump-era financial, travel, and migration regulations for fellow socialist state Cuba, whose repressive government notoriously cracked down on the pro-democracy protests in 2021. This week's events are being seen as a soft-on-socialism downslide in U.S. foreign policy that's dealing a...

Against the background of the indirect talks between the US and Iran in the Sultanate of Oman that were exposed in Walla! Iraqi senior officials announced today that the Biden administration gave the government in Baghdad a one-point exemption from the sanctions on Iran in order to pay debts to Tehran. Against the background of the indirect talks conducted by the United States and Iran in Oman and which were exposed in Walla!, senior Iraqi officials announced that the Biden administration gave the government in Baghdad a one-time exemption from the sanctions on Iran in order to pay Tehran about...

What Six Years of ‘Reset’ with Russia Have Wrought by CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER August 27, 2015 On September 5, 2014, Russian agents crossed into Estonia and kidnapped an Estonian security official. Last week, after a closed trial, Russia sentenced him to 15 years. The reaction? The State Department issued a statement. The NATO secretary-general issued a tweet. Neither did anything. The European Union (reports the Wall Street Journal) said it was too early to discuss any possible action. The timing of this brazen violation of NATO territory — two days after President Obama visited Estonia to symbolize America’s commitment to its...

President Joe Biden will waive some American economic sanctions on Russia in order to streamline construction on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, according to Axios. Citing “two sources briefed on the decision,” Axios reporter Jonathan Swan reports the State Department will include the Nord Stream 2 pipeline Russian company and CEO on its list of Russians who deserve sanctions, but the Biden administration will waive them, citing American interests.

Days ago into last week there were widespread rumors spreading on Mideast social media of the severe health decline of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The persistent rumors ranged from saying he was in a coma even to some claiming his death.But Khamenei put the unfounded speculation to rest after on Wednesday morning he appeared at an event marking the first anniversary of the death of IRGC Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani. He hasn't made a public appearance in three weeks.But more importantly he emerged to give final high level backing to prior statements of Iranian leaders, most notably President...

Jihad Watch Court Docs: Iranian-American Lobbying Group NIAC Defrauded Feds, Lied to Congressmen, Paid for Congressional Testimony, and Arranged Secret US/Iran Meetings Pamela Geller has just published this revealing and important message from the Iranian-American human rights activist Arash Irandoost: Dear Friend,حرف بس است. متحد شویم. عمل کنیمIt is time to act. Court documents released as a result of a lawsuit filed by NIAC against Hassan Dai paint a very disturbing picture of Trita Parsi and the NIAC. They range from defrauding the federal government, lying to members of Congress, arranging secret meetings between the US and the criminal regime,...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was among the targets of an investigation in Turkey into suspected bribery and money laundering in connection with a scheme to help Iran evade sanctions, a former Istanbul police officer has testified. The officer, Huseyin Korkmaz, told a New York court on December 11 that the Turkish investigation that he led in 2012-2013 initially focused on Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who U.S. prosecutors have said was the mastermind behind the Iran sanctions evasion scheme, but later grew to include dozens of others. He called Erdogan the "No. 1" target in a group that also included...

Michael Rubin, academic and former staff advisor for Iran and Iraq at the Pentagon, spoke to ANF English service on the inclusion of one of Erdoğan’s former ministers, Zafer Çağlayan, in the case file of Reza Zarrab, its influence on Zarrab’s case and Washington-Ankara relations, and Erdoğan’s planned visit to the U.S. in mid-September. Rubin remarked that the arrest warrant issued for Zafer Çağlayan could be a sign that Zarrab is talking to prosecutors and giving evidence. He said: “That's Erdogan's nightmare, because if Zarrab is talking, then Zarrab is also likely talking about Erdogan's dealings. And the thing with...

A high-ranking official from Turkey’s second-largest state-owned bank was arrested in New York City March 27. On the orders of the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joon H. Kim, FBI agents arrested Mehmet Hakan Atilla, Halkbank’s vice president for international banking, for violating the US-led sanctions against Iran. The press release from Kim’s office accused Atilla with participating “in a years-long scheme to violate American sanctions laws by helping Reza Zarrab, a major gold trader, use U.S. financial institutions to engage in prohibited financial transactions that illegally funneled millions of dollars to Iran.” Zarrab, a Turkish citizen...

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag says Washington has told Ankara that jailed Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab -- a gold trader who is awaiting trial in the United States on charges of evading U.S. sanctions against Iran -- is in good medical condition. Bozdag made the remarks on November 16, a day after Turkey announced it had sent a diplomatic note to U.S. authorities inquiring about Zarrab. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website last week listed Zarrab, 34, as having been released from prison on November 8. But U.S. prosecutors said that posting was an error and he remained...

Three men were charged in an indictment returned Nov. 27 for their roles in a scheme to defraud U.S. Military contracts in Afghanistan, engaging in illegal commerce in Iran, and laundering money internationally. Their conduct was in connection to two multi-million dollar contracts to provide supplies and logistical support to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Lechleitner of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko made the announcement. Abul...

Democrats are gloating over the sentencing of former Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) last week. He was ordered to serve 10 years in prison for the vague charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Whenever prosecutors want to get someone who hasn’t actually committed a crime, they use those vague but scary sounding charges. He was also ordered to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution, to be divided between him and two other co-defendants.What did Stockman actually do to warrant this? He facilitated four donations from two donors totaling $915,000 to two nonprofits he was associated with. One of the nonprofits...

During the July 2018 NATO summit, elements of the USA newsmedia focused on President Trump’s accurate attacks on Western Europe’s contradictory actions and positions in the arenas of defense and commerce. What the USA newsmedia covered much less was how welcome those points were to NATO members from Eastern Europe, whose memories of Russian aggression are much more recent, perhaps, than those of Western Europe, making them as wary of these issues as Mr. Trump is. Delegates from Poland, Lithuania, and Romania, for example, appeared just as happy about Mr. Trump’s comments as delegates from England, France and especially Germany...

Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson caused “embarrassment” to a company he consulted for by lobbying then-Sec. of State Hillary Clinton in an email he sent through her longtime friend and ally, Sidney Blumenthal, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Caller. The company, Symbion Power, made the claim in response to a lawsuit filed in New Mexico last week by Wilson, who served as ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe during the Bill Clinton administration. Wilson claims that Symbion and its co-founders, Paul Hinks and Lord Richard Westbury, engaged in fraud, breach of contract and civil conspiracy...

The presidential administration that vowed to be the most transparent since the baptism of Nkuwu Nzinga has once again demonstrated that such vows mean nothing to it. In addition to the secretive manner in which Secretary of State John Kerry conducted negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran over its nuclear program — in itself secretive — there was also the matter of secret “side deals” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. And now, additional side deals, this time between President Barack Obama and the leaders of foreign governments, have also come to light. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio...

Many Helped Iraq Evade U.N. Sanctions On Weapons By Craig Whitlock and Glenn Frankel Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, October 8, 2004; Page A01 BERLIN, Oct. 7 -- As part of its stealth effort to evade U.N. sanctions and rebuild its military, the Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein found that it had no shortage of people around the world who were willing to help. Among them: a French arms dealer known only as "Mr. Claude," who made a surreptitious visit to Iraq four years ago to provide technical expertise and training. Mr. Claude worked for Lura, a French company...

Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - For the first time in 35 years, Boeing has sold aircraft components to Iran. Breaking the news, the industry itself stated that it has sold "aircraft manuals, drawings, and navigation charts and data" to Iran Air. The sale, which has yielded Boeing 120 thousand dollars, is the first since 1979, the year of the "hostage crisis" which was followed by United States sanctions on all trade useful to aviation. The sale, said the company, took place between June and September this year, producing 12 thousand dollars in profits and was possible thanks to a US...

Obama Sees an Iran Deal That Could Avoid Congress By DAVID E. SANGER OCT. 19, 2014 WASHINGTON — No one knows if the Obama administration will manage in the next five weeks to strike what many in the White House consider the most important foreign policy deal of his presidency: an accord with Iran that would forestall its ability to make a nuclear weapon. But the White House has made one significant decision: If agreement is reached, President Obama will do everything in his power to avoid letting Congress vote on it. Even while negotiators argue over the number of...

Several months ago, the Pentagon's network and e-mail system fell victim to computer hacking. After an internal investigation, Pentagon officials declared that the hack was perpetrated by the Chinese military. In particular, officials said the attack "was by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and that it led to the shutdown of a computer system serving the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates." Now, a Chinese company with ties to the country's military, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and the Taliban will gain access to U.S. defense-network technology under a proposed merger.According to a story in the Washington Times, Huawei Technologies...

IPT News June 9, 2010 SNIPPET: "The Turkish-based charity that helped drive last week's deadly confrontation with Israeli commandos has deep ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups. The Hamas ties are not in question. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and IHH officials simply do not acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist group." SNIPPET: "U.S. officials have expressed concern over the fact that "IHH representatives have met with senior Hamas officials in Turkey, Syria, and Gaza over the past three years," but IHH is not a designated terrorist organization in the United States. It's fair to ask, why not?"...