(Tea Party PAC) – Documents authored by the United States government that have been reviewed by The Washington Free Beacon, have revealed that there are several of Russia’s top state-controlled nuclear companies that will stand to gain a hefty chunk of change somewhere in the billions as part of a brand spanking new nuclear accord with Iran that will ultimately waive sanctions to these firms so that they can build up Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Rosatom, a Russian state-controlled energy firm, along with four of its major subsidiaries, will receive waivers for sanctions under a new accord so that they will be able to complete nuclear projects being done in Iran that are worth more than $10 billion, according to a document dated from 2019, which goes into great detail about the Russian entities that are involved in these projects.
“The document’s authenticity was confirmed by a former senior U.S. official, who said it was used by the Trump administration during internal talks about potential sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program and its Russian enablers,” the report said.
“With a new nuclear accord being finalized, the Biden administration has repeatedly guaranteed Russia that it will not face sanctions for its work on Iranian nuclear sites, even as Moscow faces a barrage of international penalties for its unprovoked war in Ukraine. Already, the Biden administration renewed a series of sanctions waivers to permit Russia’s nuclear work in Iran as part of a package of concessions meant to entice both countries into signing a new accord. These waivers were rescinded by the Trump administration in 2020 as part of its ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran,” the Free Beacon reported.
“The removal of nuclear sanctions on Iran will hand Russia’s Rosatom a financial lifeline, even as the United States and European nations seek to isolate Moscow for its ongoing assault in Ukraine. Republicans and Democrats are sounding the alarm on these concessions, criticizing the Biden administration for undermining its own pressure campaign on Moscow to ensure that a nuclear deal is inked. Critics of the deal have in recent days seized on the carve outs for Russia following a series of Free Beacon reports outlining how sanctions relief would turn Iran into a ‘sanctions evasion hub” for Russian president Vladimir Putin,” the Free Beacon piece continued.
“Russian state-owned firms stand to gain billions of dollars under a revived Iran nuclear deal and would be exempted from U.S. sanctions,” Andrea Stricker, a veteran nuclear proliferation expert who has been closely tracking Iran’s program during her time as a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank went on to say. “Washington should be working to close every one of the Kremlin’s revenue streams, not letting Moscow enrich itself while it is committing mass atrocities.”
Information that was disclosed in the government document that was seen by the folks over at the Free Beacon revealed that four Rosatom subsidiaries — Rusatom Energy International, Atomstroyexport, TVEL Fuel Company, and Techsnabexport — are to be given the thumbs up to carry on their nuclear projects located at Tehran’s Bushehr nuclear plant. These projects include supplying Iran with reactor fuel, the removal of spent fuel, overseeing plant operations, and also doing new construction on the site.
“When the Biden administration renewed sanctions waivers in February of this year, it also gave the green light for Rosatom affiliates to perform work at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, an underground bunker that Tehran once prepared for its weapons program and that continues to conduct prohibited research,” the report from the Free Beacon stated.
“Russia’s TVEL Fuel Co. also gave Iran 20-percent enriched uranium fuel to run a research reactor in Tehran as part of the original 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. While the Trump administration outlawed this work, the February sanctions waiver issued by the Biden administration reversed this decision,” the report continued.
Under this new deal, Russia would be able to import enriched uranium from Iran, which means that Moscow can then return all of this material to the regime in Iran and allow them to augment their stockpile. The exchange was formerly handled by Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, a Rosatom affiliate, which could potentially take the lead again for future uranium swaps with Tehran.
“The Biden administration has made clear that it will not sanction any of Russia’s work on Iran’s civilian nuclear program, meaning that all of the work previously taking place under the JCPOA will be allowed to resume,” the report added.
A State Department spokesman went on to tell the Free Beacon in a report published back in March that the United States will “not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA.” “The United States will take actions as necessary to ensure that U.S. sanctions do not apply to the implementation of JCPOA nuclear-related projects and activities by non-U.S. individuals and entities.”
“Richard Goldberg, a Foundation for Defense of Democracies adviser who served on former president Donald Trump’s White House National Security Council as the director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction, told the Free Beacon that there is no way to fully pressure Russia without taking on its state-owned firms,” the report went on to say.
“You can’t claim to have a pressure policy against Moscow and simultaneously lift sanctions to pump Putin’s state-owned enterprises with billions,” Goldberg commented.
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