The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday elected 15 new countries to serve on the Human Rights Council for three years.
Four of the 15 new members are from Africa – Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Malawi.
However, Peru and Russia failed to secure seats in the council.
After the ballots were counted, the President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, announced Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malawi, and the Netherlands were elected to serve in the council beginning from January 1, 2024.
China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, France, and Malawi were re-elected for their second terms.
The Human Rights Council, the UN’s premier rights body, is tasked with the responsibility of upholding and advancing fundamental freedoms across the world.
It was created in 2006 and consists of 47 member states elected via secret ballot by the majority of General Assembly members.
In order to ensure equitable geographical distribution, its seats are distributed among regional groups of states as follows: Africa (13), Asia-Pacific (13), Eastern Europe (6), Latin American and Caribbean (8); and Western Europe and others (7).
Malawi topped the voting for Africa with 182 votes, followed by Côte d’Ivoire (181), Ghana (179), Burundi (168), and Nigeria (3).
In Asia and the Pacific, Indonesia secured 186 votes, followed by Kuwait (183), Japan (175) and China (154).
In Eastern Europe, Bulgaria received 160 votes, followed by Albania (123), and Russia (83).
Russia was seeking re-election to the council after it resigned from the body on April 7, 2022.
DreamWorks Animation cut about 70 positions, as many entertainment companies have adjusted their staffing levels amid rising production costs and this summer’s work stoppages.
“Roles affected were across corporate functions, feature, television and technology departments as part of an overall cost-reduction,” DreamWorks Animation said in a statement released on Sunday.
The Glendale-based company produces movies including “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” “Abominable” and upcoming “Trolls Band Together.” News outlet Deadline was the first to report on the layoffs, which affected roughly 4% of DreamWorks Animation’s workforce.
The cuts last week follow other companies that have been reducing their expenses amid this summer’s dual Hollywood strikes by film and TV writers and actors that have delayed or suspended many productions. Local businesses including talent agencies, production companies and prop houses have felt the financial squeeze.
Two weeks ago, the Writers Guild of America ended their 148-day strike against major studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. when both sides reached a tentative agreement. Writers have until Monday at 1 p.m. to vote on it.
Film and TV actors led by SAG-AFTRA remain on strike and are continuing negotiations on Monday with the AMPTP.
Even once that strike were to end, industry observers said it would take some time to get productions back up and running to the levels before the strikes. Many crew members have also been out of work due to the production shut downs.
Unrelated to the strikes, animation has been an area that has been significantly affected by the boom in streaming and its later course correction. Companies like Netflix heavily invested in animation as a way to attract younger audiences, but after facing a slow down in subscriber growth, cut part-time animation related jobs and canceled series. HBO Max also canceled shows.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Tuesday, ‘strongly’ objected to further adjournments of his suit against the federal government’s proscription of IPOB.
Kanu founded IPOB, which is a pro-Biafra actualisation group. Kanu is currently being detained at the custody of the Department of State Services over alleged running a proscribed group, treason and jumping.
He was in 2021 renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria, which Nigeria’s Appeal Court ruled amounted to extra-ordinary rendition, and ordered his release. However, the FG declined to obey the order.
Kanu’s wish against its further adjournment followed the fixing of Oct 16, 2023 for its hearing at the Appeal Court. Our correspondent reports that the matter had been adjourned many times since 2018 when he filed the suit against the federal.
Barr Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s special counsel, stated Kanu’s objection via his X handle.
According to him, “As the appeal filed by #IPOB against its proscription comes up for hearing on 16th October, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has directed me to publicly convey his strong objections to any further adjournment of the case. It’s bad enough that the case has been hit by several adjournment since 2018.”
The Federal High Court in Abuja had in 2017 given judicial backing to the executive order of former President Muhammadu Buhari proscribing IPOB’s in every part of Nigeria.
The then acting Chief judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati, granted the order, declaring that the activities of the group constituted an act of terrorism and illegality.
Kanu however, sued FG for labelling IPOB as a terrorist organisation. In a suit by his special counsel, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, marked E/20/2023, filed at an Enugu State High Court, Kanu sought the court order that self-determination is not a crime and consequently cannot be held on, to arrest, detain and prosecute Kanu and the members of IPOB.
Ejimakor had told newsmen that, “The suit is against any criminal prosecutions of the applicant and members of IPOB on the basis of the said proscription of IPOB and its listing as a terrorist group.
The suit began with originating application brought pursuant to Order II Rules 1 & 2 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Articles 2, 3, 19 & 20 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Right (Ratification and Enforcement) Act and under the jurisdiction of the Court as preserved by Sections 6 and 46 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
Our correspondent reports Kanu’s other cases pending in the court and being handled by Ejimakor alone or in conjunction with other lawyers are three cases in Southeast, one at the Court of Appeal (on proscription), one at the African Union, one in UK, two at the UN and one in Kenya.”
A video clip shared on Instagram on the day Hamas attacked Israel appears to show former President Donald Trump condemning Israel. But the clip is from a 2019 campaign rally and has been taken out of context. Trump was not expressing his opinion, but was quoting Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
Full Story
The Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, launching thousands of rockets from Gaza into Israeli territory and invading civilian communities and military bases. The following day, Israel responded by formally declaring war on Hamas and initiating airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is based. More than 1,600 people had been killed in Israel and Gaza combined by Oct. 10.
Many U.S. politicians have reacted to the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militants.
In a statement on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden said, “The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza. … Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said, “Israel not only has the right to defend itself against these attacks, it has a duty to respond with overwhelming force. I stand with Israel. America must stand with Israel.”
But an Instagram post shared on Oct. 7 showed former President Donald Trump appearing to criticize Israel.
The video shows Trump at a rally saying, “Israel has hypnotized the world. May Allah awaken the people and help them to see the evil doings of Israel and the United States.” The post has received more than 116,000 likes.
Many commenters, believing this to be Trump’s opinion, expressed support for the former president, with one commenter calling him “haji,” an Arab honorific. Asked by another commenter if Trump really said this or if the video was generated by artificial intelligence, the Instagram user who posted the video responded, “He did.”
Technically, Trump did say this. At a 2019 campaign rally in Minneapolis, while discussing Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Trump said, “Omar wrote that ‘Israel has hypnotized the world. May Allah awaken the people and help them to see the evil doings of Israel and the United States.’”
But the video clip does not include the context, which made it clear that Trump was quoting Omar rather than stating his own opinion.
In November 2012, when fighting had erupted over the Gaza Strip, Omar wrote on Twitter, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” That was about six years before she took office in 2019, becoming one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. Omar has since called her words in that tweet “unfortunate.”
Since the recent fighting broke out, Omar has called for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump has expressed support for Israel over the years. In 2017, during his presidency, Trump made the controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. A year later, at a Hanukkah celebration, he called Israel a “cherished friend and partner.”
At a rally in Iowa on Oct. 8, Trump said, “Israel’s at war, and the United States has to support Israel. We have to support Israel. There’s been no better president for Israel than me.”
Sources
C-SPAN. “President Trump Campaign Rally in Minneapolis.” 10 Oct 2019.
Czachor, Emily Mae. “Israel and Hamas at war after Palestinian militants launch deadly attacks from Gaza.” CBS News. Updated 10 Oct 2023.
Gold, Hadas and Richard Allan Greene. “Hamas has launched an unprecedented attack against Israel. Here’s what to know.” CNN. 8 Oct 2023.
Goldenberg, Tia, and Wafaa Shurafa. “Israel declares war, bombards Gaza and battles to dislodge Hamas fighters after surprise attack.” Associated Press. 8 Oct 2023.
Hjelmgaard, Kim, et al. “Israel updates: “We are at war,” Israel’s Netanyahu says as Hamas launches surprise multi-front attack.” USA Today. 7 Oct 2023.
White House. “Presidential Proclamation Recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of the State of Israel and Relocating the United States Embassy to Israel to Jerusalem.” 6 Dec 2017.
White House. Press release. “Statement from President Joe Biden Condemning Terrorist Attacks in Israel.” Press Release. 7 Oct 2023.
YouTube. “Ilhan Omar Defends Her Comment Accusing Israel of ‘Evil Doings.‘” 16 Jan 2019.
YouTube. “Trump Reacts to Israel Hamas.” 8 Oct 2023.
An elderly couple are suing an art dealer who bought an African face mask from them for £129 and sold it for £3.6million.
The unnamed pair, aged 81 and 88, from Nimes in France, were clearing out their home in 2021 and decided to sell the ‘Ngil’ mask. In September of that year, they sold it to a dealer, known as Mr Z.
After paying a small price for it, he sold it at an auction in Montpellier a few months later for an impressive £3.6million.
The artwork is a traditional Fang mask from Gabon, used in rituals such as weddings and funerals.
The mask was brought to France by the husband’s grandfather, who was a colonial governor in Africa, according to ARTnews.
The French couple did not know of the colossal value of the item until they read about the sale in a newspaper.
They are now suing Mr Z because they believe that he cheated them.
The lawsuit is ongoing but, as of June 28, the court of appeals in Nimes ruled that the couple’s case ‘appears to be well-founded in principle’. It ordered the proceeds of the sale to be frozen until the end of the case, ARTnews reported.
The couple have put forward the case that the dealer withheld his suspicions over the value of the artifact.
Instead of displaying the mask in his shop, he got in touch with three auction houses in France for an estimate of its worth.
The last of these was an African artifacts specialist, who had the mask professionally analysed.
The mask was listed for sale by the auction with an estimate of between £259,416 and £345,888 but it sold in March last year for considerably more.
The dealer first offered the couple £259,416 when faced with legal action, but the offer was rejected due to it being opposed by their children, according to court documents reviewed by Artnet News.
The Fang masks, carved from wood are made by the Fang people who occupy regions in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
The one sold at the auction features decorative elements on the lower half that resemble a long beard.
Tests dated the mask to the 19th century and an ethnologist expert said it was used by the Ngil, a secret male society that formed part of the Fang people, who oversaw judicial matters.
Court documents seen by Artnet News read: ‘This piece of kaolin-coated cheesewood is therefore exceptional in terms of its rarity, as only a dozen or so other reference specimens are known to exist worldwide, in Western museums and collection.’
Police operatives in Zamfara have arrested two suspects in connection with the murder of a reporter with the Voice of Nigeria (VON) in the state, Hamisu Danjibga.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Shehu, paraded the suspects at a press briefing on Tuesday in Gusau.
He said the suspects were Danjigba’s nephew, Mansur Haruna, and his friend, Ibrahim Garba, both of whom conspired to kidnap the journalist.
The CP said: “When the journalist resisted their move, they stabbed him to death.
“The two suspects confessed to the crime during the investigation and some items belonging to the late Danjibga were recovered from them.”
The commissioner also paraded three suspected bandits who specialised in kidnapping women in the state.
A new report has just dropped suggesting that President Joe Biden physically abuses his pets with insiders claiming he “kicks” his dogs violently when no one is around.
This might explain the recent aggression of his dogs toward Secret Service agents, biting a number of them and subsequently being banished from the White House.
Many did not immediately blame “Commander” for his behavior. After all, a lack of training and the behavior of an owner is usually what is at fault when a dog misbehaves.
“The dog reportedly has been removed from the White House after its most recent attack on a Secret Service agent and other White House staff. According to a Judicial Watch source, President Biden has mistreated his dogs. Judicial Watch has learned he has punched and kicked his dogs,” the conservative outlet reported.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots issued a statement in “solidarity with the Palestinian people” on Monday after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, killing hundreds of civilians and wounding thousands more.
“Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands in solidarity with our Palestinian family who are currently resisting 57 years of settler colonialism and apartheid,” the statement read in part. “As black people continue the fight to end militarism and mass incarceration in our own communities, let us understand the resistance in Palestine as an attempt to tear down the gates of the world’s largest open air prison. As a radical Black organization grounded in abolitionist ideas, we see clear parallels between black and Palestinian people.”
“We, too, understand what it means to be surveilled, dehumanized, property seized, families separated, our people criminalized and slaughtered with impunity, locked up in droves, and when we resist they call us terrorists,” the statement continued. “We, too, dream of a world where our people may live freely on decolonized land. May the borders, checkpoints, prisons, police and watchlists that terrorize our communities crumble and may the world we build from their ashes honor those who have fallen in struggle.”
READ MORE: Hamas beheaded Jewish babies, IDF says
BLM Chicago also made a post in support of Hamas terrorists, sharing a silhouetted image of one of the terrorists flying a powered parachute, which was used to drop into a music festival where more than 250 civilians were killed.
“I stand with Palestine,” the photo’s caption read.
Support for Hamas terrorists was heard around the world, including Australia, where a crowd of mostly Muslim pro-Palestine protestors gathered near the Sydney Opera House in Australia Monday night, chanting “Gas the Jews.”
According to The Daily Mail, local police allowed Monday night’s pro-Palestinian protestors outside of the Sydney Opera House to chant violence against the Jews and burn the Star of David; however, local police arrested a pro-Israeli protestor for attempting to raise an Israeli flag.
As part of efforts to curb criminal activities in Abuja, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday ordered the removal of suspected criminal hideouts in the Mabushi and Katampe areas of the federal capital.
Wike gave the directive during inspection of the proposed Mabushi-Katampe road corridor that has been taken over by scavengers.
The Minister, along with a joint team of security personnel and senior FCT Administration officials, urged the Department of Development Control to promptly clear the area without delay.
Wike said: “This place is where people commit crimes and come to hide, the Department of Development Control should clear this area immediately so that the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) will come in for the necessary things.
“There is nothing like compensation, development control must clear this area immediately so that all these criminals won’t be here. These are places where people will commit crimes and run down here for cover, and people will say FCT does this and that.
“We will do everything possible to see that this area is cleaned up, it will make the people here not to be disturbed.”
Mukhtar Galadima, the coordinator of the FCT City Management Task Team, said the directive will be strictly enforced to eliminate illegal activities.
Galadima, who also serves as the Director of the Department of Development Control, emphasized the importance of adhering to the Abuja master plan.
“There is provision for different hierarchy of road networks, so this area is a proposed transit road network that transverses the entire city across the districts.
“It is a type of road network that consists of dual modes of transportation. The area is called scavengers colony which is situated within the road corridor of the Mabushi and Katampe districts.
“With the security challenges across the country, illegal activities of this nature will not be allowed. The area will not be allowed to stand.
“Security is a national issue, it is everybody’s concern that is why we are not giving consideration to compensation, we have to secure the place. After the clearing, the FCDA will move in immediately, nobody will come in and settle again. It is a mother of all exercises because demolition, evacuation, and general clean up are involved,” he said.
Contrary to claims by some Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, U.S. taxpayers did not indirectly fund the recent Hamas attack on Israel with Iranian money unfrozen as part of a prisoner swap with Iran in August.
The $6 billion freed up was Iranian money that was held in South Korean banks. It was released to banks in Qatar, and State Department officials say there will be oversight to ensure it can only be spent on humanitarian needs in Iran, such as food or medicine. Some have argued that money is fungible, so the release of the funds will free up Iran to fund terrorism. But none of the $6 billion has yet been spent.
What Is the Origin of the $6 Billion?
In 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — and several months later imposed sanctions that included a partial ban on Iranian oil exports and on banking. The following spring, the administration imposed a total ban on oil exports.
Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that the sanctions were “targeted at the regime, not the people of Iran, who have suffered grievously under this regime” and that the administration would “maintain many humanitarian exemptions to our sanctions including food, agriculture commodities, medicine, and medical devices.”
Around that time, South Korean banks held between $6.5 billion and $9 billion from the country’s purchases of Iranian energy products. The Trump administration authorized the release of those funds for humanitarian purposes, but the banks resisted doing so, because of a fear of violating the U.S. sanctions, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
As part of a prisoner swap negotiated by the Biden administration in August, the U.S. allowed the transfer of $6 billion from South Korean banks to bank accounts in Qatar, which has promised to ensure the funds are only used by Iran for humanitarian needs. In exchange, Iran released five U.S. citizens who the State Department says were “wrongfully imprisoned” in Iran.
What Republicans Are Saying and White House Response
On Oct. 7, Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing hundreds of people. Soon after, Israel declared war on Hamas, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group that historically has been supported by Iran.
IDF soldiers on Oct. 10 guard an area around Kibbutz Kfar Aza where dozens of civilians were killed days earlier in an attack by Hamas militants near the border with Gaza. Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images.
On the day of the Hamas attack, Trump released a statement saying, “Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration.”
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy similarly stated, “America’s broken foreign policy establishment knew they were funding Hamas & went ahead with it anyway. The unprecedented $6BN in ransom paid to Iran last month worsened it: our taxpayer dollars are funding Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.”
On social media, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said, “The Biden Administration must be held accountable for its appeasement of these Hamas terrorists, including handing over billions of dollars to them and their Iranian backers.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared on several Sunday political talk shows to push back, emphasizing that “these were not U.S. taxpayer dollars” in the prisoner swap and that “not a single cent” of the money transferred from South Korean banks had yet been spent.
Blinken also assured that “the account is closely regulated by the U.S. Treasury Department, so it can only be used for things like food, medicine, medical equipment.” And he said, “the previous administration set up a very similar mechanism to enable Iran to use its oil proceeds that were blocked in various places or stuck in various places for humanitarian purposes. So people are either misinformed or they’re misinforming, and either way, it’s wrong.”
Other Republicans, such as Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, made a more nuanced argument — that money used for humanitarian aid will allow the Iranian government to spend more of its money on nefarious endeavors. Experts said those criticisms are fair.
Haley said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that it was “irresponsible for Secretary Blinken to say that the $6 billion dollars doesn’t weigh in here. I mean, let’s be honest with the American people, and understand that Hamas knows and Iran knows they’re moving money around as we speak, because they know $6 billion is going to be released. That’s the reality. … It doesn’t go to the Iranian people. It does go to terrorist attacks. And Secretary Blinken’s just wrong to imply that this money is not being moved around as we speak — to hurt those that love freedom.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” McCaul, a Republican, said he, too, is “concerned about the $6 billion in lifted sanctions that have now gone into Iran. I don’t think it played a part in this event, but it certainly could play a part in any future terror activities.”
Not U.S. Taxpayer Dollars
Let’s first dispel one claim made by Trump and Ramaswamy. The $6 billion in question is not U.S. taxpayer dollars. It is Iranian money that was being held in South Korean banks.
In a press conference on Sept. 12, Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, said the Trump administration “allowed these accounts to be set up so countries could purchase Iranian oil” and that South Korean banks held $6 billion worth of payments when the U.S. issued new sanctions in 2018 and 2019.
“Iran has always been able under the regime set up by the previous administration to access the funds in these accounts,” Miller said.
Indeed, in October 2019, the Trump administration announced “a new humanitarian mechanism” to allow for humanitarian trade of agriculture, food, medicine and medical devices with Iran.
“This mechanism, designed solely for the purpose of commercial exports of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices to Iran, will provide unprecedented transparency into humanitarian trade to Iran and help ensure that humanitarian goods go to the Iranian people, and are not diverted by the Iranian regime to fund its nefarious purposes,” the 2019 announcement by the Treasury and State Department said.
Foreign governments and banks that wanted to use this mechanism had to perform “enhanced due diligence,” such as reporting to the U.S. details about the identity of Iranian businesses and the logistics of a transaction, in order to get confirmation from Treasury that they wouldn’t be subject to U.S. sanctions for completing the transaction with Iran.
A few months later, on Feb. 27, 2020, the U.S. government announced the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement, the “first operational channel” under the October 2019 framework.
Reuters later reported that an initial “pilot” transaction in January 2020, before the SHTA officially launched, was for cancer and organ transplant drugs worth $2.7 million and involved the Swiss bank BCP and drugmaker Novartis. Another deal involving cancer drugs was announced by the Swiss government in late July 2020.
So Blinken was correct to say “the previous administration set up a very similar mechanism to enable Iran to use its oil proceeds,” but the Swiss arrangement hasn’t been used much.
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote last month that the SHTA “has faced a number of challenges, including a lack of liquidity and lack of enthusiasm from Iranian officials” and that “participants and observers complained that the ‘enhanced due diligence’ requirements were too much of a burden.”
Although the Trump administration set up these mechanisms to disperse Iranian assets, “the South Koreans weren’t interested,” Patrick Clawson, director of research at the Washington Institute, told us in a phone interview. “From the beginning, South Korean banks were reluctant to use it because they feared the U.S. could change its mind and come back and fine them.”
Henry Rome, then a fellow at the Washington Institute, wrote last week: “Under the Trump administration, South Korean officials worked with Washington on developing a won-denominated payment channel modeled on a separate Swiss arrangement, but it was never set up.”
Given South Korean banks’ entrenched reluctance to participate in the programs to disburse funds to Iran, Miller said, “it was necessary” for the Biden administration “to make these waivers to allow the transfer of money from these accounts, through bank accounts in Europe, ultimately to Qatar.”
Money Not Yet Released
It is also wrong to say the transfer of the $6 billion funded the recent Hamas attack, because Iran hasn’t yet received any of the money.
The U.S. Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, posted a statement on social media on Oct. 7 saying, “All of the money held in restricted accounts in Doha as part of the arrangement to secure the release of 5 Americans in September remains in Doha. Not a penny has been spent.”
Glenn E. Robinson, a resident fellow at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, told us via email that “the agreement of just a few weeks ago was much too recent to have had any impact on the events of the past 72 hours.” In addition, he said, “The Hamas operation was low tech, low cost. I doubt the cost of the material used in the operation exceeded perhaps $100,000 or so.”
Nader Habibi, a professor of economics at Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies, offered another reason why the Republican argument fails.
“Another issue to consider is that it has taken several months (and perhaps a couple of years) for Hamas to manufacture the weapons that it has used against Israel since October 6,” Habibi told us via email. “The $6 billion under discussion was released only recently. So it could not have had a role in funding Hamas for this operation.”
Could Money Be Used to Fund Future Terrorism?
Miller, the State Department spokesman, assured that there would be “strict Treasury Department oversight” of the unfrozen funds to ensure Iran uses them for humanitarian needs such as food or medicine.
But in an interview with NBC News on Sept. 12, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran would spend the money however it sees fit.
“This money belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Raisi said. “And naturally, we will decide, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will decide to spend it wherever we need it. How to spend our money, of course, it is under the authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This money it belongs to the Iranian people, to Iranian government. So the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money.”
Miller said that he understood why Raisi “may need to make those remarks,” but the U.S. Treasury Department would maintain oversight of the funds in Qatar accounts. “We will remain vigilant in watching the spending of those funds and have the ability to freeze them again if we need to.”
Habibi told us that safeguards would prevent the direct transfer of money to Hamas.
“Under the arrangement between Iran and the U.S. these funds have been transferred to the central Bank of Qatar and Iran is allowed to use them for purchase of authorized goods such as food and medical supplies,” Habibi said. “Therefore, it will not be possible for Iran to gain control of these funds and transfer them to Hamas.”
Nonetheless, some Republicans, such as McCaul and Haley, argue that money is fungible. Experts say that is a fair criticism, though some told us it was unlikely much money would ultimately go to Hamas.
In testimony before a House subcommittee on Sept. 27, Elliot Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations — whom Biden has nominated to serve on the bipartisan United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy — testified that he feared “the billions of dollars to which Iran will now newly have access as part of the prisoner deal will only add to the many more billions they are earning through rising oil exports, and will help fund terrorism against Israel to an even greater degree.”
Said Habibi: “The potential impact of these funds on Iran’s ability to support its proxy armed supporters such as Hamas and Hezbollah is that it can free up some funds that were previously used for medicine and food. For example if the government of Iran was planning to buy $100 million worth of rice, it can now pay for this purchase from the released money in Qatar central bank and use the $100 million that was dedicated for this purpose for all other expenditures. How this $100 million is spent depends on the security and economic priorities of the Islamic regime.”
“In my opinion the domestic security and economic expenditure needs are very strong and at best only a small portion of this freed fund will be dedicated to all of Iran’s proxies, which include Hezbollah, Hamas, and pro-Iran militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen,” Habibi said.
Robinson agreed that little of that money is likely to ever make its way to Hamas.
“As a general rule, I find people tend to conflate Iran-Hamas-Hizbullah,” Robinson said. “Iran has had a historically long and deep relationship with Hizbullah, indeed, helping to found the organization in the early 1980s. By contrast, Iran’s relationship with Hamas has paled by comparison historically. Friendly, some resource flows, likely some training now and again, but a far cry from the transfer of tens of millions of dollars every year as it did with Hizbullah.”
Still, despite Biden administration assurances that the accounts in Qatar will be restricted and will be available only for transactions for humanitarian goods with vetted third-party, non-Iranian vendors, Clawson is dubious that the Qatari monitoring will work. Such arrangements have a history of problems, Clawson said, such as food and medicine being supplied by companies with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which in turn skims some of the profits. “Do I think it’s going to work, no,” Clawson said.
But even if the funds are used for humanitarian purposes, Clawson said, it’s a fair criticism to say that money Iran would have used to buy medicine or wheat could now be used to fund other things, which could include Hamas.
It’s also fair, he said, for some to argue that the arrangement provided an incentive for countries like Iran to hold hostages. It sent a message, Clawson said, “If you hold a hostage, you can get something for it.”
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