The US State Department told Congress Tuesday that it would wave sanctions on some of Iran’s blocked funds in Japan and South Korea so that Tehran can pay its debts to exporters who sold goods and Services to Iran.
The move, reported by the Washington Free Beacon, is clearly tied to ongoing negotiations with Tehran over reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that have been going on since April. Iran has been demanding that the United States must first lift sanctions imposed during the administration of Donald Trump before it reverses nuclear steps violating the JCPOA.
While Iran has been increasing those violations, enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, the Biden administration has been gradually lifting sanctions.
The same day the US Department of Justice announced that four Iranian intelligence officers, currently in Iran, have been indicted on conspiracy charges to kidnap a Brooklyn journalist and human rights activist, Masih Alinejad.
Critics on social media slammed the Biden administration for lifting sanctions at the same time its own Justice Department was indicting agents of the Iranian government for attempted kidnapping on US soil.
The move to free funds frozen under US sanctions will provide financial relief to the hard-pressed government in Tehran. A State Department spokesman said that the Secretary of State had already signed waivers and it extended these waivers for another 90 days.
Source » iranintl