During Obama’s administration, the State Department reportedly attempted to obstruct the FBI’s attempts to apprehend those being investigated for providing financial support to Iran’s nuclear weapons development.
The claims were made public when a letter issued to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken by Republican Senators Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson was publicized.
Documents also reveal that under former Secretary Kerry’s orders, the State operated in a way that jeopardized national security, hindered the FBI’s ability to execute the law, and undermined our government’s position against Iran. But even with Comey and Lynch at the helm, the FBI and the Department of Justice were unable to prevent Kerry from interfering politically.
The letter said that the people in issue were being held on suspicion of providing illicit financial and other assistance to Iran’s WMD and ballistic missile programs.
In six cases where the State Department interfered, the senators said that the FBI missed a chance to apprehend the principal suspect because of how the situation was handled. In their letter, they included communications from the FBI that had been partly redacted.
Among these documents was an email that the senators said showed that the FBI had lost track of someone who was on its terrorist watch list. Another suspect had successfully escaped to Iran before the deadline. The senators cited data showing that the FBI did not seize a person who was intended to be apprehended mid-flight.
The letter indicated that the individual in issue was just denied admittance into the nation and that the State Department had prohibited their detention.
Grassley and Johnson claim in their letter that the two suspects were only apprehended after the State Department of the Trump administration lifted the Obama government’s prohibition on their detention.
All of these things happened when the Obama administration was negotiating the Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with Iran.
In 2018, the US withdrew from the deal because, as President Trump said, it was the worst deal in recorded history.
Grassley and Johnson requested that the State Department provide them with documents that include information on Kerry, Blinken, William J. Burns, and Wendy Sherman, all of whom are associated with Iran and the nuclear agreement.
