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WATCH: John Kerry ADMITS We Are Giving Money to Terrorists

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By Matthew Lee. It’s likely that some of the billions of dollars in sanctions relief granted to Iran under a landmark nuclear deal will go to groups deemed to be terrorists, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday. But, he added, he doesn’t believe Iran will be able to use the freed-up cash to boost funding of malign activities if it is serious about revamping its economy.

Kerry said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum the U.S. or others can do little to prevent the now-unfrozen assets from getting into the hands of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps or “other entities” that Iran has supported in the past. But since nuclear-related sanctions were lifted on Iran last weekend, Kerry said, there is no evidence yet to suggest such transfers have occurred.

“I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” he told CNBC television in an interview. “You know, to some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented. But I can tell you this: Right now, we are not seeing the early delivery of funds going to that kind of endeavor at this point in time.” (Read more from “John Kerry Just Confirmed We Are Giving Money to Terrorists” HERE)

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Congress Moves to Block Payment to Iran of $1.7 Billion in Taxpayer Funds

By Adam Kredo. Congress is considering legislation that would bar the Obama administration from moving forward on a cash payment to Iran of $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds, according to a copy of the legislation provided to the Washington Free Beacon.

Obama administration officials confirmed to the Free Beacon earlier Thursday that it is using a taxpayer-funded account to pay Iran $1.7 billion as part of a settlement agreement reached with the Islamic Republic ahead of the release of five imprisoned Americans.

Critics of the agreement allege that the administration agreed to the payment to spur Iran to release the five Americans, who were freed over the weekend.

The news has sparked outrage on Capitol Hill and prompted Sen. Jerry Moran (R., Kan.) to file legislation Thursday afternoon that would bar the administration from moving forward on the payment until Iran pays millions in judgments awarded to the U.S. victims of its global terrorist network, according to the bill.

“The United States should not be funding governments that openly violate human rights, proudly disregard U.N. Security Council resolutions, and call for the destruction of America and its allies,” Moran said in a statement. “This bill directs the U.S. government to put justice for American victims of Iranian terrorism ahead of compensation for the Iranian regime.” (Read more from “Congress Moves to Block Payment to Iran of $1.7 Billion in Taxpayer Funds” HERE)

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Former US Marine Freed From Iran: ‘I Feel Alive for the First Time’ [+video]

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Photo Credit: Fox News Amir Hekmati, one of the Americans freed from Iran in a prisoner swap, said Tuesday he couldn’t wait to return to his home in Michigan.

“I feel alive for the first time,” the 32-year-old retired Marine told reporters outside a hospital in Germany, one day after an emotional reunion there with his family . . .

Hekmati, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and pastor Saeed Abedini arrived late Sunday at the U.S. military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for treatment. A fourth American released in exchange for the U.S. pardoning or dropping charges against seven Iranians opted to stay in Iran, and a fifth American was released separately.

Hekmati was detained in August 2011 on espionage charges. Hekmati says he went to Iran to visit family and spend time with his ailing grandmother. After his arrest, family members say they were told to keep the matter quiet.

He was convicted of spying and sentenced to death in 2012. After a higher court ordered a retrial, he was sentenced in 2014 to 10 years on a lesser charge. (Read more from “Former US Marine Freed From Iran: ‘I Feel Alive for the First Time'” HERE)

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NONE of the Seven Iranians Freed in the Prisoner Swap Have Gone Back to Iran

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None of the Iranians freed in the prisoner swap have returned home and could still be in the United States, it has been reported.

The seven former inmates, who were released as part of a deal with the Islamic republic, did not show up to get a flight to Geneva, Switzerland, where the exchange was set to take place on Sunday.

Three of the Iranians have decided to stay in the United States, ABC reported, with some moving in with their families. However it is not known where the other four are.

Three of the Americans who had been detained in Iran – Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini – left Tehran at around 7am the same day, but weren’t met by their counterparts in Switzerland . . .

Six of the seven have dual citizenship and all of them had been convicted or charged with crimes related to selling sensitive equipment to Iran. (Read more from “NONE of the Seven Iranians Freed in the Prisoner Swap Have Gone Back to Iran” HERE)

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Will GOP Allow U.S. To Become Iranian Proxy?

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Just a few days after Iran committed an act of war and seized a U.S. navy boat and its crew, Obama has announced the first $1.7 billion in direct payments to Iran. Concurrently, he has announced a deal in which Iran will return the four American captives. They will not be returned in exchange for all the money Obama is giving them and the control over the seas he has evidently surrendered to them. No, the Iranians get that for free. The release of the four hostages was in return for a major prisoner swap that could include as many as 21 Iranians.

Consider the following:

Over the weekend, the administration announced a settlement in which they will pay Iran $1.7 billion for assets our government froze in 1979 when the mad mullahs conquered Iran. Thus, in addition to the $150 billion in assets granted to Iran pursuant to the terms of the nuclear deal, the regime is now squeezing every penny from the original sanctions as far back as 36 years ago.

Obama purposely ignored the plight of the four American hostages as part of the nuclear deal so that he could allow Iran to force future concessions in return for their release. We now know which concession the Iranians were demanding. Obama is releasing seven Iranian prisoners and has agreed not to prosecute 14 others, some of whom are high valued supporters of Iran’s terror network.

While the details are still murky, at least “several” Americans were captured around Baghdad by local “militias.” Now, it doesn’t take a genius to know that the only militias that operate around Baghdad are the ones affiliated with the Iranian Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.. If this turns out to be the case, it would represent another failure of our ridiculous Iraq policy in which we are serving as the Shiite military on behalf of Iran while Iran continues to humiliate us. This is a repeat of the entire Iraq war in which our military basically protected Iran from Saddam Hussein and the Sunnis only to helplessly watch them blow up hundreds of our soldiers with IEDs.

When criticizing Obama’s Iran policy, too many people are using the wrong ”a” word. This is not appeasement. Obama has formed an alliance with Iran against his own country. He is allowing them to engage in one act of war after another without any commensurate response so that they can use each event to extract more concessions.

On a side note, remember when Mitt Romney criticized Cruz for saying the U.S. would become the biggest state sponsor of terror with the Iran alliance?

Will Romney crawl out of the Mittness protection program to apologize? More likely, he’ll join the chorus defending #NewYorkValues. But I digress.

In a sane world with an authentic opposition party, we would not have surrendered the power of the purse. We would not have passed the Corker-Cardin bill, which legitimized the Iran deal.

Where do we go from here?

The Palestinians are one of the biggest proxies of the Iranian regime and likewise are among Obama’s chosen people. Republicans should immediately pass legislation being pushed by Ted Cruz and Rep. Mark Meadows to shut down all Palestine Liberation Organization offices in our country and suspend the $500 million in annual aid to Iran’s proxy.

Congress must refuse to confirm any more judicial nominees until Obama comes clean on all his side agreements with Iran and abides by the terms of his own deal [Iran has already violated the deal with multiple ballistic missile tests]. Of course, Republicans should already be blocking nominees for a host of other reasons.

In addition to blocking judicial nominees, Republicans should leverage executive nominees against Obama’s Iran policy. Next week, the Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold a confirmation hearing on Eric Fanning to become the next Secretary of the Army. At a time when our military is being humiliated by Iran, Republicans must extract concessions from the next army secretary. In addition, we need answers about the terrible morale in the Army as well as the Obama administration’s social engineering of the military, which includes integrating women in direct ground combat, mixed boot camps, and the transgender agenda. Confirming nominees to serve in positions where Obama is perpetrating lawless or harmful transformations would represent yet another betrayal by Senate Republicans.

Congress should use must-pass bills, such as the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill to shut down Obama’s Iran deal.

Yes, we will have a new president in 367 days, but we cannot afford another year with Obama humiliating our military and committing acts of treason with Iran. That is an eternity. Just last week, Iran’s army chief said they seized the American boat to send a message to Republicans in Congress to back off sanctions. Well, Republicans, did you get the message?

Our forefathers wouldn’t tolerate appeasement for a moment. They proclaimed, “millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!” Why should we tolerate treasonous funding of terror for one more day? (For more from the author of “Will GOP Allow U.S. To Become Iranian Proxy?” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

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US to Pay Iran $1.7 Billion in Debt and Interest: Kerry

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The United States is to repay Iran a $400 million debt and $1.3 billion in interest dating to the Islamic revolution, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday.

The repayment, which settles a suit brought under an international legal tribunal, is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in frozen foreign accounts that Iran can now access after the end of nuclear sanctions.

But the timing of the announcement, one day after the implementation of the Iran nuclear accord, will be seen as pointing to a broader clearing of the decks between the old foes.

US President Barack Obama defended the settlement in a televised statement from the White House, saying it was for “much less than the amount Iran sought.”

“For the United States, the settlement could save us billions of dollars that could have been pursued by Iran. There was no benefit to the United States in dragging this out,” he said. (Read more from “US to Pay Iran $1.7 Billion in Debt and Interest: Kerry” HERE)

Listen to this analysis of Iran’s despicable actions toward our sailors last week; the discussion on Iran starts at 6:10:

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Anger, Humiliation, Investigation, Violation of the Code of Conduct

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Article II of the Armed Forces Code of Conduct states:

“I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.”

Yet, Tuesday, two U. S. boats along with 10 sailors surrendered to the Iranian Revolutionary guard.

And like most of you, over the last day, I have watched over and over again on TV, photos and videos of the American sailors on their knees with hands behind their heads. The Navy commander of the captured sailors is on the video apologizing (An apology Biden swears never happened.) and thanking the Iranians for their hospitality.

“It was a mistake that was our fault and we apologize for our mistake,” said the U.S sailor, who was identified by Iran’s Press TV as the commander. “It was a misunderstanding. We did not mean to go into Iranian territorial water. The Iranian behavior was fantastic while we were here. We thank you very much for your hospitality and your assistance.”

Our groveling Secretary of State, not to be overshadowed by the Navy commander, applauds and thanks Iran for this wonderful new relationship we have with them.

[Listen to yesterday’s interview with the Daily Signal’s congressional correspondent who reports on his conversations with congressmen relating to the Iran fiasco]

It never used to be like that — Admiral Jeremiah Denton.

As a young Navy pilot, Admiral Jeremiah Denton was shot down and became a Vietnam POW for nearly eight years. In 1966, after being tortured and threatened with death if he did not “correctly” answer the questions posed, he was televised in front of Communist dignitaries with the purpose of having him admit to American atrocities. Instead, Denton turned the tables on his captors. He replied, “Whatever the position of my government is, I believe it, I support it, and I will support it as long as I live.”

The Iranians have flashed the images around the world to prove America is nothing but a paper tiger— not much to be concerned with.

As I watched in disbelief, and anger the videos of the sailors on their knees, hands behind their heads, just like POWs or the victims of ISIS before their throats are slit, and of the young commander apologizing, I keep wondering: was he given orders to “stand down,” and make whatever statement the Iranians demanded for their release?

Reports differ on why the boat strayed into supposed Iranian waters: malfunctioned motor, lack of gas, or something else. Nevertheless, clearly the men and boats were heavily armed. They had “the means to resist.” Ammunition and guns were very evident. Did all the guns malfunction? Did their radios malfunction? Was help too far away? Shades of Benghazi.

The Pentagon claims they don’t know what happened; that they are investigating. That’s BS. You mean with all their means of communication, they didn’t have a full picture of what happened within an hour?

Congress should investigate right now. Subpoena the sailors. (For more from the author of “Anger, Humiliation, Investigation, Violation of the Code of Conduct” please click HERE)

Obama’s “Partner for Peace” Kidnaps US Sailors, Then Releases Them; Obama Ignores Crisis in SOU

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By Helen Cooper and David E. Sanger. Two United States Navy patrol boats and their crews were seized by the Iranian authorities in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday during what a Tehran news agency alleged was “snooping.”

But the Pentagon and the State Department said that one of the boats had experienced mechanical problems while en route from Kuwait to Bahrain on a routine mission. Administration officials said that the military had lost contact with the boats before they strayed into Iranian territorial waters. They said they had received assurances from Iran that the 10 sailors would be returned soon, perhaps on Wednesday.

But a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif, was quoted Wednesday morning in the Iranian news media as saying that talk of an immediate release was “speculation.” He said an “investigation” was underway and that “talks” were being held with the sailors, suggesting that they were being interrogated . . .

The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran said that the boats had illegally traveled more than a mile into Iranian waters near Farsi Island, the site of a major Iranian naval base. It said that members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy had confiscated GPS equipment, which would “prove that the American ships were ‘snooping’ around in Iranian waters.”

The waters where the boats were sailing are a frequent location for intelligence collection by the United States, Iran and many gulf countries. The American and Iranian navies encounter each other frequently there. (Read more from “Iran Kidnaps US Sailors” HERE)

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Iran Releases U.S. Sailors

By Barbara Starr, Jim Sciutto and Holly Yan. The 10 U.S. sailors detained in Iran have been released, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported Wednesday. . .

Earlier Wednesday, what sounded like the sailors’ imminent release dragged on for hours, with Iranian officials interrogating the sailors about their motives and demanding a U.S. apology.

“The evidence suggests that they unintentionally entered the Iranian waters because of the failure of their navigational system,” IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif said on Press TV. (Read more from “Iran Kidnaps US Sailors, Then Releases Them” HERE)

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Saudi Arabia Cutting Ties With Iran, Tensions Reach Fever Pitch After Execution of Shiite, Calls For “Divine Revenge”

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By Newsmax. In a significant escalation of tensions, Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran and expelled the Islamic Republic’s diplomats, a day after its embassy in Tehran was attacked to protest the Saudis’ execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Iran’s ambassador in the kingdom has 48 hours to leave, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said late Sunday in Riyadh. “Saudi Arabia will no longer deal with a country that supports terrorism and sectarianism,” he said.

The move marks the biggest crisis in relations between the regional powers since the late 1980s, when the Sunni-led kingdom suspended ties with Shiite-ruled Iran after its embassy was attacked following the death of Iranian pilgrims during Hajj in Mecca. Saudi Arabia also supported Saddam Hussein’s Iraq against Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. (Read more from “Saudi Arabia Cutting Ties With Iran, Tensions Reach Fever Pitch After Execution of Shiite, Calls For “Divine Revenge” HERE)

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Saudi Arabia Severs Ties With Iran as Mideast Protests Rage

By Ben Brumfield, Yousuf Basil and Catherine E. Shoichet. The two countries have long been at odds, but Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr Saturday kicked off a new round of sparring between them that analysts say could mark a dangerous shift in an already volatile region.

“I think you’re going to see a period of very harsh rhetoric, and the cutting of diplomatic ties comes at a very bad time. … This is Saudi Arabia saying, ‘The gloves are off,’ ” said Bobby Ghosh, a CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of Quartz. . .

In Iran, the last word belongs to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And on Sunday, he tweeted, “Doubtlessly, unfairly-spilled blood of oppressed martyr #SheikhNimr will affect rapidly & Divine revenge will seize Saudi politicians.”

(Read more from “Saudi Arabia Severs Ties With Iran as Mideast Protests Rage” HERE)

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Former Iran Hostages Are Finally Receiving Compensation

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American hostages who were held in Iran for 444 days between 1979 and 1981 are finally receiving compensation from the government for their time in captivity.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that a provision in the omnibus spending bill signed by President Obama last week provided for up to $4.4 million to be paid to each of the 37 surviving hostages or the estates of 16 others who have died since their release. The Post reported that the law authorizes payments of up to $600,000 for each spouse or child of a hostage.

According to the Post, money for the compensation will come in part from a $9 billion penalty paid by the French bank BNP Paribas for violating sanctions prohibiting conducting business with Iran, Cuba, and Sudan. The fund will remain open for 10 years so that it can be replenished by future fines.

Lawyers for the hostages told the paper they expect all the survivors or estates to ultimately be paid in full . . .

The hostages had been barred from taking legal action against Iran under the terms of the so-called Algiers Accords that led to their release in January 1981. Perhaps the most famous offer of compensation in the months after their release came from then Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who gave them lifetime passes to games. (Read more from “Former Iran Hostages Are Receiving a Ridiculous Amount in Compensation” HERE)

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Iranian Hackers Have Gained Access to ‘Mission Critical’ American Blueprints

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Security researcher Brian Wallace was on the trail of hackers who had snatched a California university’s housing files when he stumbled into a larger nightmare: Cyberattackers had opened a pathway into the networks running the United States power grid.

Digital clues pointed to Iranian hackers. And Wallace found that they had already taken passwords, as well as engineering drawings of dozens of power plants, at least one with the title “Mission Critical.” The drawings were so detailed that experts say skilled attackers could have used them, along with other tools and malicious code, to knock out electricity flowing to millions of homes.

Wallace was astonished. But this breach, The Associated Press has found, was not unique.

About a dozen times in the last decade, sophisticated foreign hackers have gained enough remote access to control the operations networks that keep the lights on, according to top experts who spoke only on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter.

The public almost never learns the details about these types of attacks – they’re rarer but also more intricate and potentially dangerous than data theft. Information about the government’s response to these hacks is often protected and sometimes classified; many are never even reported to the government. (Read more from “Iranian Hackers Have Gained Access to ‘Mission Critical’ American Blueprints” HERE)

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