Iran Uses Nuclear Deal Windfall to Strengthen Hamas and Hezbollah

Iran is already spending the enormous cash windfall Barack Obama is giving them on a heavy investment in terrorism, according to a report in the Times of Israel.

“Since the deal was signed, Iran has significantly increased its financial support for two of the largest terror groups in the region that have become political players, Hamas and Hezbollah,” writes the Times of Israel. “In the years before the deal was signed, the crippling sanctions limited this support, which had significantly diminished along with Iran’s economy. But Tehran’s belief that tens, or hundreds, of billions of dollars will flow into the country in the coming years as a result of sanctions relief has led to a decision to boost the cash flow to these terror organizations.”

Iran’s financial support has enabled Hezbollah to purchase “highly developed new armaments, including advanced technologies that many militaries around the world would envy.” A Kuwaiti paper cited by the Times of Israel reported that every advanced weapon Russia is bringing into Syria is finding its way into the hands of Hezbollah operatives, who have been fighting against al-Qaeda and ISIS on behalf of the Assad regime. Much of this hardware was previously considered too expensive for Hezbollah.

Iran’s increased economic and political strength after Obama’s deal is helping them shore up Bashar Assad—a dictator Obama repeatedly stated should be removed from power, especially after he crossed the chemical weapons “red line.” It is also giving Iranian terror proxies new opportunities to turn their weapons against Israel.

“Today, Iran is the main, and likely only, power attempting to build terror cells to fight Israel on the Syrian Golan Heights, in areas under Assad’s control,” writes the Times of Israel. “This does not mean that the Syrian president is aware of these attempts or green-lighted them. But for Israel, that does not matter. Tehran is investing more effort and money after the nuclear deal to carry out attacks against Israel from the Golan, even under Assad’s nose.”

The report goes on to note that some of Iran’s new money for Palestinian gangsters is literally arriving as suitcases full of cash, in an effort to bypass Hamas money man Khaled Mashaal, who fell out of Iran’s favor by getting too cozy with the Saudis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced Iran’s increased support for terrorism during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday:

As you know, in recent years, and particularly in recent months, Iran and Syria have been arming the extremist Islamic terrorist organization Hezbollah with advanced weapons, aimed at us, and over the years thousands of rockets and missiles have been fired against our cities. At the same time, Iran, under the auspices of the Syrian army, is attempting to build a second terrorist front against us from the Golan Heights. Our policy is to prevent these weapons transfers, and to prevent the creation of a terrorist front and attacks on us from the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu appealed for Russia’s help with implementing this policy—another step toward the end of American influence in the Middle East, as engineered by President Obama’s ruinous policies. President Obama’s hostility to Israel is helping the final pieces of Iranian and Russian grand strategy slide into place. America taking thousands of Syrian refugees won’t make any difference to those who still hold power in the region, but Russia and Iran ending the bloody Syrian civil war and securing Assad’s place as part of the new Iranian hegemony will. The money Obama gave Iran will buy vastly more influence for Iran than Obama’s rhetoric will generate for the United States.

As for the burdens supposedly imposed on Iran as part of the deal, Reuters tells us that the first environmental samples from the suspicious military base at Parchin have been taken by the Iranians themselves without any UN inspectors present at all. This is a blatant violation of the already laughably weak terms of Iran’s “side deals” with the UN—or at least a violation of what little the American people and their representatives have been told about those side deals—but Iran does not care.

In fact, rubbing the international community’s nose in the lopsided nature of the deal furthers Iran’s goal of impressing other regional powers with its new stature. Iran defeated President Obama and the “world community” decisively in this “deal.” The reality on the ground is changing in ways that leave the Obama administration’s rhetoric stale and outdated the moment its spokespeople open their mouths. That reality involves guns, money, political influence, and manpower for Iran’s terrorist proxies, while Barack Obama stumbles around Washington looking for some Republicans to blame for his Syrian disaster. No one in the Middle East will have any trouble telling the strong horses from the weak ones.