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Obama Administration blocked visa waiver reforms to avoid upsetting Iran

Jan 14, 2016 10:13 pm By Robert Spencer

“Recent congressional efforts to tighten gaps in the U.S. visa waiver program were blocked by the Obama administration out of fear the counter-terror effort would upset Iran.” The Iranians, meanwhile, seem to be going out of their way to do things that would upset the United States. They know who has the upper hand.

Zarif-laughing

“Obama Admin Blocked Visa Waiver Reforms to Avoid Upsetting Iran,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, January 14, 2016:

Recent congressional efforts to tighten gaps in the U.S. visa waiver program were blocked by the Obama administration out of fear the counter-terror effort would upset Iran, which opposes the reform to the visa process, according to a letter sent by a delegation of leading senators to Secretary of State John Kerry.

Congress approved late last year a measure to tighten restrictions on those entering the United States via the visa waiver program, which facilitates travel between America and many European countries.

The law prohibits travel to the United States for any foreign individual who has since 2011 visited Iraq, Iran, or any other country designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. The Obama administration threatened to waive the provision after Iran publicly opposed the measure and warned that it violates the nuclear agreement with Iran.

In a December letter to top Iranian leaders, Kerry promised the administration would veto the measure and work to uphold the nuclear agreement.

“The administration has the authority to waive” the counter-terrorism measures and will take steps to ensure the measures do not “interfere with legitimate business interests of Iran,” Kerry wrote to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

Stephen Mull, the State Department official in charge of implementing the Iran deal, warned the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that congressional efforts to tighten restrictions “could have a very negative impact on the deal.”

The Obama administration’s threat to veto the new counter-terror law sparked outrage among Republican lawmakers who accuse Kerry and his team of jeopardizing U.S. national security to appease one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terror.

“Iran-sponsored terrorists and militants are responsible for the death of more than 700 Americans,” Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and 12 other senators wrote to Kerry on Wednesday. “As you continue to engage with Mr. Zarif, we urge—rather than seeking to placate the complaints of Iran, the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism—you to press him and his government to cease its support for terrorism and provide tangible evidence that it is doing so.”

The United States must make clear to Iran “that these reforms to the [visa waiver program] were not drafted with Iranian interests in mind, but U.S. national security interests,” the senators wrote.

Other lawmakers who backed the letter include Sens. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.), and James Inhofe (R., Okla.).

The lawmakers expressed “grave concern” over Kerry’s effort to reassure Zarif and Iran.

While Iran maintains that the new counter-terror measure would harm its international business interests, the lawmakers affirmed that the Islamic Republic could exploit flaws in the U.S. screening process as part of its ongoing sponsor of terror operations.

“Iran-sponsored terrorists and militants are responsible for the death of more than 700 Americans,” the lawmakers wrote. “During the 1980s, Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists killed over 290 Americans in Lebanon—including 241 U.S. servicemen in the Beirut Barracks Bombing of October 23, 1983.”…

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Filed Under: Featured, Iran, United States, Useful idiots Tagged With: Mohammed Javad Zarif


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Comments

  1. spartan says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 6:43 am

    No surprise. This is consistent with US foreign policy in regard to all major economic partners worldwide. The 9/11 attacks staged and committed by Saudi citizens did not lead to military action against Saudi Arabia, whose military defence was long ago secured by a tacit agreement to provide oil and gas to the US under long-term contracts.

    This defence pact has earned the US no end of opprobrium throughout the Muslim world where the Saud family’s control of the Mecca prize – and the religious and economic power it conveys – is much coveted and resented – not least by Iran, the leading regime of the Shia Muslim world.

    Now that Saudi Arabia’s role as financier of Sunni Islam’s militants and terrorists throughout the world has become more generally known, the US is now hedging its bets by toadying to Iran instead.

    Consistency. That’s all.

  2. Bamaguje says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 7:08 am

    Not at all surprising since Obama always puts the interests of Islam, Muslims and Iran above America.

  3. Guy Jones says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 7:19 am

    What a non-suprise — kowtowing to Iranian interests and preserving the fiction of his illusory foreign policy “accomplishment” (total capitulation to the Iranian regime) is more important to Obozo and company than common sense measures intended to protect American citizens from jihadists who are taking advantage of lax immigration procedures.

    Iran is playing Obozo and Kerry like a puppetmaster, and, the two of them make fine marionettes.

  4. Jack Holan says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 7:56 am

    The spectacle of a hostile Foreign Government dictating from a position of weakness yet controlling the actions of weak kneed Obama who wants his Deal even if NYC got nuked and frivolous Kerry who’s love love for this country is questionable

  5. spartan says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 8:20 am

    The US already handed Iran the prize that it failed to gain in two wars- a Shia regime in Iraq with US military support. They must be falling over themselves with laughter in Tehran.

    And now the Dhimmis are ready to be duped yet again, with the current phony no-nukes deal.

    With nukes in hand Iran will be able to counter Sunni Pakistan’s nukes in the coming worldwide internecine conflagration between Sunni and Shia Islams..

    So much to thank the US for……

  6. wildjew says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 8:23 am

    Very disappointed Senator Cruz refused to support (even) a “pause” on Muslim immigration in the debate last night. This is a “no-brainer.” What is Senator Cruz thinking? Dr. Carson?

    Julia Hahn (Breitbart) wrote: After Trump reaffirmed his support for a Muslim immigration pause, debate moderator Maria Bartiromo put the question to all candidates:

    ‘According to Pew Research, the U.S. admits more than 100,000 Muslim immigrants every single year on a permanent lifetime basis. I want to ask the rest of you to comment on this. Do you agree that we should pause Muslim immigration until we get a better handle on our Homeland Security situation, as Mr. Trump has said?’

    …..Not one single candidate – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 79%, George (sic) Bush, Ben Carson, John Kasich, Chris Chrsitie or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 97% – said they were willing to support a pause to the enormous annual inflow of Muslim immigrants on visas.

  7. duh_swami says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 8:57 am

    Rasool O has sent three private letters to the Ayatollah…I wonder if he begins them with bismillah?
    All the R candidates, have cognitive dissonance about Islam…They know 60-80% of the truth but the 40-20% they don’t know are the most important parts… That makes the PC saturated, including Trump, with the possible exception of Carson who seems to get the drift…

  8. Angemon says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    Recent congressional efforts to tighten gaps in the U.S. visa waiver program were blocked by the Obama administration out of fear the counter-terror effort would upset Iran, which opposes the reform to the visa process, according to a letter sent by a delegation of leading senators to Secretary of State John Kerry.

    Ronald Reagan must be turning in his grave…

  9. Dan Jones says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    He wont be happy till we all bow towards Mecca…

    More End Time News At:
    http://www.shininginthedark.com/?page_id=4526

  10. gravenimage says

    Jan 15, 2016 at 7:48 pm

    Obama Administration blocked visa waiver reforms to avoid upsetting Iran
    ………………………………

    Of course! Why wouldn’t we want more Jihadists streaming into the United States–and to do it to avoid upsetting a state that regularly screams “Death to America!”?

    Sounds good to me…sarc/off

    More appeasement of savagery by the current occupant of the White House.

  11. JAS says

    Jan 16, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    I wonder what more Obamo could do to pander to the dark-ages isiamic cretins of Iran? How about the USA giving the Iranians a few jet airplanes and naval vessels to conduct their piracy attacks with? He has already rewarded the vermin with billions of dollars as a reward for handing him a great “photo op” in the Iran give away deal he is so proud of. Maybe Obozo will set them up with some ambassies in pricey DC? We could certainly help them out with their thousands of executions, (must be a real drain on their supply of hangmen and beheaders) Why are we playing nice with this nasty, vlle, cut throat regime while they continue to stick pins in us almost daily? The only thing we got out of the deal is proof that our ‘president’ is a fool who should never have been given on the job training as a president. (Obozo’s first real job in his life!)

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