(PatrioticPost.com)- In a move endorsed by the Biden administration, South Korea revealed over the weekend that it used Iranian bank funds freed from US sanctions to pay the $18 million in delinquent dues Iran owed to the United Nations.
The White House approved of the move as a way to restore Tehran’s voting rights at the UN that were suspended earlier this month over its delinquent dues.
Imagine just for one moment President Donald Trump giving the green light for one of America’s enemies to use frozen assets to pay delinquent UN dues.
It boggles the mind, doesn’t it?
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that after consulting with the US Department of Treasury, Seoul paid the dues by tapping into Iran’s frozen assets in South Korean banks. The Foreign Ministry said it expected the UN to restore Iran’s voting rights immediately.
According to Iranian state TV’s English-language channel, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations confirmed that the dues have been paid and Iran’s voting rights would be restored. Majid Takht-e Ravanchi also expressed outrage over the United States for what he called its “brutal and unilateral sanctions against Iran” which he said prevented Iran from paying its arrears.
The funds in question were impounded at South Korean banks under sanctions imposed by former President Trump after he withdrew from the ridiculous nuclear deal. Under the order, the funds can only be accessed if the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control grants a license for the transactions.
But since the Biden administration is desperate to restore Obama’s misguided nuclear deal which grants sanctions relief in exchange for empty promises not to pursue nuclear weapons, it is hardly surprising that the Biden Treasury Department agreed.
Over the last few years, Iran has been pressuring Seoul to release nearly $7 billion in oil sales revenues that are currently frozen in South Korean banks.
Iran, however, isn’t the only member of the United Nations who wasn’t paying its dues. Venezuela and Sudan are also in arrears.
