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Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians during nuclear deal: Iran official

Dev1lXYZ

Member
Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians during nuclear deal: Iran official

The Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians, including family members of government officials, while negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, a senior cleric and member of parliament has claimed.

Hojjat al-Islam Mojtaba Zolnour, who is chairman of Iran’s parliamentary nuclear committee and a member of its national security and foreign affairs committee, made the allegations during an interview with the country’s Etemad newspaper, cited by the country’s Fars News agency.

He claimed it was done as a favor to senior Iranian officials linked to President Hassan Rouhani, and he alleged the move sparked a competition among Iranian officials over whose children would benefit from the scheme.

He claimed that the deal was made during negotiations for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was reached in July 2015. President Trump announced in May that the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...anians-during-nuclear-deal-iran-official.html

I have no words......
 

FireEmoji

Banned
Seems like people should wait for more info.

Fox News said:
Asked about the cleric's claim, a State Department spokesperson said: “We’re not going to comment on every statement by an Iranian official.”

Fox News analyst and former Obama State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf was dubious of the Iranian official’s allegation. “This sounds like totally made up BS,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment. A representative for Obama Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson also could not be reached for comment.
 

44Forever

Member
This could be interesting and will be another part of the entire story that will eventually come out on how the Obama Administration was run.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Mmm. Sounds like diplomacy, so it sounds like a difficult compromise that Obama would be willing to make in the interest of the greater good...hypothetically. Also sounds like unverified hearsay about something we almost certainly would've heard about already if it had taken place. 2500 Iranians is a lot of people to be relocating and granting citizenship to. Project like that requires significant coordination and bilateral third party involvement. Bams didn't swoop in and smuggle a town full of Iranian people in the cargo bay of Air Force One while everyone was looking the other way. This would've been seen by a ton of people with political and/or ideological opposition to it on the Iranian side AND the US side. Not impossible, but it is implausible enough to require more evidence than hearsay from one boisterous Iranian official already being downplayed by the Iranian government and one unnamed White House source.

A present-day White House administration source could've plausibly been in the Obama administration, since Obama made tons of bipartisan appointments and Trump has been chronically under-appointing positions in his administration. This unnamed source could have been in the admin at the time, but at any rate they would also be part of the Trump administration now. The Trump admin's interests are served by pushing a story that makes Trump look like a successful diplomat who doesn't need to make uncomfortable concessions. If the White House source were willing to attach their own name to it, this would immediately become more credible, however that doesn't appear to be the case.

Wait for further evidence.
 

FireEmoji

Banned
one unnamed White House source.

I can't find anywhere in the article where there is any source other than the cleric.

I've read it once and skimmed it like 3 times now. They only ever refer to it as "the clerics claim" and everyone they asked about it gave a "no comment" response.

Asked about the cleric's claim, a State Department spokesperson said: “We’re not going to comment on every statement by an Iranian official.”

Fox News analyst and former Obama State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf was dubious of the Iranian official’s allegation. “This sounds like totally made up BS,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment. A representative for Obama Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson also could not be reached for comment.
 
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Mmm. Sounds like diplomacy, so it sounds like a difficult compromise that Obama would be willing to make in the interest of the greater good...hypothetically. Also sounds like unverified hearsay about something we almost certainly would've heard about already if it had taken place. 2500 Iranians is a lot of people to be relocating and granting citizenship to. Project like that requires significant coordination and bilateral third party involvement. Bams didn't swoop in and smuggle a town full of Iranian people in the cargo bay of Air Force One while everyone was looking the other way. This would've been seen by a ton of people with political and/or ideological opposition to it on the Iranian side AND the US side. Not impossible, but it is implausible enough to require more evidence than hearsay from one boisterous Iranian official already being downplayed by the Iranian government and one unnamed White House source.

A present-day White House administration source could've plausibly been in the Obama administration, since Obama made tons of bipartisan appointments and Trump has been chronically under-appointing positions in his administration. This unnamed source could have been in the admin at the time, but at any rate they would also be part of the Trump administration now. The Trump admin's interests are served by pushing a story that makes Trump look like a successful diplomat who doesn't need to make uncomfortable concessions. If the White House source were willing to attach their own name to it, this would immediately become more credible, however that doesn't appear to be the case.

Wait for further evidence.

Could they have granted citizenship to the various people and just given them the documentation while abroad? Would let them come and go from the states as they pleased (or needed).

IF true, it reads to me like a sweetener on the deal, a little something something to get them to stay at the table or take a bite on the proposal.

I'm curious if they'll explain the reasoning why they wanted American Citizenship so bad since publicly, it seems like America is the devil over there most days.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Could they have granted citizenship to the various people and just given them the documentation while abroad? Would let them come and go from the states as they pleased (or needed).

IF true, it reads to me like a sweetener on the deal, a little something something to get them to stay at the table or take a bite on the proposal.

I'm curious if they'll explain the reasoning why they wanted American Citizenship so bad since publicly, it seems like America is the devil over there most days.

It's hypothetically possible, but the scope of operations would still be significant. You'd probably be formally mobilizing the CIA or something to get 2500 citizenships sorted out via clandestine ops and that usually doesn't end up being very clandestine. ;b

Keep in mind that de facto Iranian nationals with US passports are still going to be "randomly" selected at customs and held for 12 hours if they look culturally Iranian and not culturally American or have thick accents. Totally randomly 99% of the time every time; that's just realities on the ground. People get stuck in holding rooms like that and pressed for answers and they're going to talk, especially if the truth exonerates them from personal suspicion and some hardass Homeland dude is treating them like a potential terrrrrist. They'd have easier movement in and out of the country on diplomatic visas than with US passports I assume, but either way it ends up sounding high profile and porous to me.
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
I can't find anywhere in the article where there is any source other than the cleric.

I've read it once and skimmed it like 3 times now. They only ever refer to it as "the clerics claim" and everyone they asked about it gave a "no comment" response.

My bad, looks like when Panda1 Panda1 mentioned an "unnamed white house source" I conflated that part as actually being in the Fox News story hah. Conditioned to assume that everything in the press involves an unnamed white house source these days.
 

cryptoadam

Banned
Who cares about that. Obama freed up billions in cash for the Mullahs and stayed quite while the people protested on the streets. But of course when the Muslim Brotherhood takes over Egypt he is falling all over himself.

Thanks to Obama the Mullahs were able to fund proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and ethnically cleanse Syria's sunnis and replacing them with Shia's. Go to the other thread even the people are fed up with Iran's adventures in the Arab world.
 

LordPezix

Member
Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians during nuclear deal: Iran official

I have no words......

A president offered citizenship to a couple thousand Iranians as part of a bargaining chip so that the international nuclear committee could make sure that the nuclear operations in a tumultuous region we not being use or exposed to terrorist activities,... that invokes a loss of words in you?

Do you understand that the protection and over watch of nuclear grade plutonium and devices are of the highest importance of every single citizen of this planet.

If it turns out to be true, 2,500 citizens isn't shit to pay to avoid a nuclear disaster.

If you want your feathers rustled lets start at the Gulf of Tonkin incident and work our way up the ladder at the atrocities administrations have been doing.
 
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