Donald Trump Ends Iran Deal: Lawsuit Over Barack Obama’s ‘Secret’ $400 Million, U.S. Treasury Sanctions Begin

The repercussions of U.S. Donald Trump ending the Iran deal are just beginning to be felt. The U.S. Treasury has just announced that they are reimposing Iran sanctions. Meanwhile, an American watchdog group is demanding that the U.S. Treasury Department divulge information about the $400 million that was given to the regime under former U.S. President Barack Obama’s Iran policies.

On Twitter, Judicial Watch noted that they are still demanding answers about one of Obama’s Iran deals despite President Trump withdrawing from a related agreement. Although the Iran deal that just ended was focused on limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons and related nuclear programs, the watchdog group also highlighted how they had filed an FOIA lawsuit with the State Department and the Treasury Department for “info on the Obama Admin’s secretive transfer of $400 million in cash (part of $1.7 billion) to the regime in Iran.”

This lawsuit started almost a year ago back when federal agencies failed to respond to August 2016 FOIA requests that sought the release of “all records related to the transfer of approximately $400 million in foreign currency to the Islamic Republic of Iran in January 2016.” Judicial Watch noted that the $400 million was “sent in stacks of foreign currency on wooden pallets on an unmarked cargo plane.”

The $400 million was just the first installment in a cash settlement made between the Iran regime and the Obama administration to settle an arms deal signed before 1979. The Obama administration claims it was just a coincidence that the money was sent only after Iran released five American hostages.

“The Obama administration’s secretive $400 million payoff to the Iranian regime was an abuse of power and may have been illegal,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “The Trump administration’s agencies should follow the law and release all they can about the Obama-Iran payoff scandal.”

Even though the U.S. just pulled out of the #IranDeal, JW still demands answers. JW filed a FOIA lawsuit with State Dept & Treasury Dept for info on the Obama Admin’s secretive transfer of $400 million in cash (part of $1.7 billion) to the regime in Iran.https://t.co/m6oR2T0CrZ

— Judicial Watch???? (@JudicialWatch) May 9, 2018

Iran Sanctions Imposed By The U.S. Treasury

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin released a statement today which announced that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) would immediately begin implementing President Trump’s ending of the Iran nuclear deal.

“President Trump has been consistent and clear that this Administration is resolved to addressing the totality of Iran’s destabilizing activities. We will continue to work with our allies to build an agreement that is truly in the best interest of our long-term national security. The United States will cut off the IRGC’s access to capital to fund Iranian malign activity, including its status as the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, its use of ballistic missiles against our allies, its support for the brutal Assad regime in Syria, its human rights violations against its own people, and its abuses of the international financial system.”

Apparently, not all of the new Iran sanctions by the U.S. Treasury will come into effect immediately. The Iran sanctions will be “reimposed subject to certain 90-day and 180-day wind-down periods. At the conclusion of the wind-down periods, the applicable sanctions will come back into full effect.”