The secret Iran deal
Iran, Iran, Iran away with $25 billion
On January 17, 2016, an Iran Air Boeing 737 cargo jet landed at Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The aircraft carried only its commercial crew. On the tarmac, U.S. officials waited for word that another plane, a Swiss Air Force jet, had left Iranian airspace. That flight had on board: Jason Rezaian, chief of Washington Post Tehran bureau, along with his wife and mother; Saeed Abedini, a pastor; Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine; and Nosratollah Kohsravi-Roodsari, a businessman.
In a secret deal, President Barack Obama authorized the release of $1.7 billion dollars from the Judgment Fund, which exists to settle claims against the United States. That fund holds taxpayer money. The money was wired to the central banks of Switzerland and the Netherlands, where it was converted into a combination of Euros and Swiss Francs—cash money. This cash was loaded onto pallets and moved to the tarmac of the Geneva airport.
On word from U.S. officials, Swiss personnel loaded the pallets of cash onto the Iran Air 737, which then flew to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran. The money was deposited into the Central Bank of Iran. The Iranian regime didn’t use it to better the lives of Iranians—it was ordered to be transferred to the Iranian military. That money was given to the IGRC and used to fund terrorist activities. The U.S. gave Iran terrorist blood money in exchange for five prisoners. We paid $340 million per hostage for people few had even heard of.
The cash payment deal was kept secret for a whole year and made public only days before Donald Trump was sworn in as 45th President of the United States.
Not to be outdone, now President Trump, as 47th POTUS, has signed a secret deal with Iran. We all know there’s a deal, because both Iran and Trump have announced it. What we don’t know it what’s in the deal. Iran claims that the U.S. has agreed to release $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets. Trump posted on Truth Social:
The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow! President DONALD J. TRUMP
The “deal” is a one and a half page Memorandum of Understanding, an MOU, that sets a framework for a more permanent agreement. Trump denied that Iran would receive cash as part of the deal, speaking to the Wall Street Journal. Again on Truth Social, he posted:
Iran has agreed to never have a Nuclear Weapon! Also, the story that the U.S. is paying Iran 300 million Dollars is Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!! President DJT
The deal to open the Strait of Hormuz juiced the oil market, lowering prices on Brent Crude to $83/bbl and U.S. crude to $80. Average prices at the pump have dipped below $4 per gallon. But the strait is not fully open, and won’t be for months. It takes a lot of time to clear mines from the narrow waterway, at least to do it safely (and there’s no other way and sane ship captain would do it).
And then there’s Israel. Israeli officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assert that Israel is not bound by the U.S.-Iran MOU, if the terms include a cease-fire in Lebanon. Israel plans to keep its troops in southern Lebanon and to keep striking Hezbollah, while Hezbollah shows no intention of stopping rocket fire and drone activity against Israel. Hezbollah is an arm of the IRGC. The Israel factor could sink this deal.
But $25 billion is a strong incentive for Iran to play along, at least until it has the cash.
My problem with this deal is that it’s secret, and there’s cash involved, and we know where the cash will go. President Obama gave Iran $1.7 billion that funded the IRGC and terrorists. Now President Trump may outdo that by nearly a factor of 15 times. We need to know what’s in the secret unpublished MOU. We need to know it before one red cent flows into the Central Bank of Iran, and gets transferred to the IRGC to be used to attack our interests—and Israel. The money will undo everything that this entire military operation sought to accomplish.
President Trump: Reveal the deal.
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: You can follow us on social media at several different locations. Official Racket News pages include:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewsRacket
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/NewsRacket
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@theracketnews
David: https://www.threads.net/@captainkudzu71
Steve: https://www.threads.net/@stevengberman
Our personal accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter:
David: https://twitter.com/captainkudzu
Steve: https://twitter.com/stevengberman
Jay: https://twitter.com/curmudgeon_NH
Thanks again for subscribing! Don’t forget to share us with your friends!
Iran exits this war having successfully navigated a potential succession crisis, with demonstrated control over the Strait of Hormuz, which financially will dwarf Trump's bribe to just get this over with. The US will disengage from attacking Iran through the end of Trump's term, leaving Israel to choose whether it is willing to go it alone should THEY want to try and impose any conditions on the Islamic Republic.
As far as Own Goals go, Bibi scored one for the history books. It'll be interesting to see how his upcoming election goes.
This is one instance where Everything Trump Touches Dies might be useful in the long run.
He’ll just gaslight us, that is what he does. He’ll use words like “we aren’t paying” while unfreezing Iranian bank accounts, or there is “toll-free” passage through the Strait while allowing the Iranians to charge service fees to cross the strait.
I have no hope for an honest accounting of what was promised to the Iranians and I have 0 expectations of them making a single nuclear concession going forward. He’ll crow that they agreed not to make a nuclear weapon, except that was exactly their public posture before the war.