Obama Quietly Lifts Sanctions, Opens Nuclear Door for Iran

While you were sleeping on Friday night, the Obama State Department was quietly changing US foreign policy toward Iran. The Obama administration has made it a routine to release statements late on Fridays after the 5:00 PM news cycle. There has been speculation that this is done in order to keep changes in policy direction below the radar of the main stream media services. Today's 24/7 new cycle slows down over the weekend, people don't pay as much attention over the weekend, and maybe something else will knock it off of Monday's news cycle.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday removed sanctions against three Russian organizations the US had previously accused of assisting Iran's effort to develop nuclear weapons.

Penalties against a fourth Russian entity previously accused of illicit arms sales to Syria were also lifted.

The timing of the decisions, published in Friday's Federal Register but not otherwise announced by the State Department, suggested the possibility of a link to US efforts to win Russian support for a new UN Security Council resolution expanding sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

Two of the entities — Dmitri Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology and the Moscow Aviation Institute — had been sanctioned in January 1999 under a 1994 executive order authorizing such action. The order was aimed at organizations determined to have contributed to a foreign country's development or production of weapons of mass destruction or missiles capable of launching such weapons.

When the administration of former US president Bill Clinton announced those sanctions, then-Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the two institutions "directly support Iranian efforts to develop nuclear weapons."

US sanctions imposed in October 2008 against Russian state arms trader Rosoboronexport for alleged illicit assistance to Iran's nuclear program also were lifted by the State Department on Friday

The State Department on Friday also lifted sanctions against Tula Instrument Design Bureau in April 1999 for providing anti-tank guided missiles to Syria.

A cynical person may ask why is the Administration opening the door for Russia to supply nuclear technology to Iran? And why is it in America's best interest to supply anti-tank guided missiles to Syria?

You may have slept soundly in bed Friday night, however there were many people in Israel that didn't.