On Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that some of the $55 billion in sanctions relief that will go to Iran will eventually end up in the hands of terrorists.
“I think that some will end up in the hands of the IRGC (Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard) or of other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” Kerry stated.
Although he said that at this point, he has no reason to believe that any of the funds given to Iran so far have gone to terrorists, he believes it will be impossible to prevent it from getting to terrorists in the future.
Iran is one of the largest backers of terrorism in the world, however Kerry claims they have an incredibly small military budget compared to the rest of the area. While Iran spends around $15 billion a year on its military, the Saudis spend about $80 billion.
Despite these numbers, the Congressional Research Service released a report last year that found Iran may actually spend upwards of $30 billion and not report the funds that go towards supporting terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
It is hard to see the upside to a deal with a country that is a known supporter of terrorism and will now get billions of dollars as a result of the agreement. It is inconceivable as to why John Kerry would support a deal that he acknowledges will be used to fund terrorism in one way or the other.