Once again, the Idiot in Chief gets proven wrong.....
One of Obama s central arguments about Iran is falling apart - Yahoo Finance
US President Barack Obama has spent a lot of time assuring those who are concerned about the impending Iran nuclear deal that sanctions relief will be spent on growing the Iranian economy rather than ramping up the country's participation in regional conflicts.
That argument rests on shaky ground amid reports of Iran's tremendous financial investment to back its closest Arab ally.
Eli Lake reports that Iran is spending much more to support the embattled regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad than the Obama administration has ever acknowledged.
The UN special envoy for Syria estimates that Iran spends $6 billion a year supporting Assad's government, and other experts estimate that Iran spends much more than that.
"Nadim Shehadi, the director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University, said his research shows that Iran spent between $14 and $15 billion in military and economic aid to the Damascus regime in 2012 and 2013, even though Iran's banks and businesses were cut off from the international financial system," Lake reports.
If some of these sanctions are lifted with a nuclear deal that is most likely coming by June 30, that would give Iran even more money to support its interests in the region.
"The White House seems deeply convinced that the money Iran may get will go to help boost the Iranian economy instead of being used to support their regional interventions and initiatives," Foreign Policy CEO David Rothkopf wrote recently. "The [Gulf officials] at Camp David did not share this view (nor do some senior former officials of the administration with whom I have spoken).
"For example, even if the Iranians got only $100 billion and used 90% to help the economy, the remaining $10 billion would have a potentially big impact in places like Syria, Iraq, and Yemen," Rothkopf wrote. "Further, no one among the regional experts with whom I have recently spoken felt that the Iranians would use a fraction as low as 10% of the monies in support of their regional policies."
One of Obama s central arguments about Iran is falling apart - Yahoo Finance
US President Barack Obama has spent a lot of time assuring those who are concerned about the impending Iran nuclear deal that sanctions relief will be spent on growing the Iranian economy rather than ramping up the country's participation in regional conflicts.
That argument rests on shaky ground amid reports of Iran's tremendous financial investment to back its closest Arab ally.
Eli Lake reports that Iran is spending much more to support the embattled regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad than the Obama administration has ever acknowledged.
The UN special envoy for Syria estimates that Iran spends $6 billion a year supporting Assad's government, and other experts estimate that Iran spends much more than that.
"Nadim Shehadi, the director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University, said his research shows that Iran spent between $14 and $15 billion in military and economic aid to the Damascus regime in 2012 and 2013, even though Iran's banks and businesses were cut off from the international financial system," Lake reports.
If some of these sanctions are lifted with a nuclear deal that is most likely coming by June 30, that would give Iran even more money to support its interests in the region.
"The White House seems deeply convinced that the money Iran may get will go to help boost the Iranian economy instead of being used to support their regional interventions and initiatives," Foreign Policy CEO David Rothkopf wrote recently. "The [Gulf officials] at Camp David did not share this view (nor do some senior former officials of the administration with whom I have spoken).
"For example, even if the Iranians got only $100 billion and used 90% to help the economy, the remaining $10 billion would have a potentially big impact in places like Syria, Iraq, and Yemen," Rothkopf wrote. "Further, no one among the regional experts with whom I have recently spoken felt that the Iranians would use a fraction as low as 10% of the monies in support of their regional policies."
