U.S.
Mulls Ending Ban on Dollars to Aid Iran
by IPT News • Apr 1, 2016 at 4:44
pm
|
|
|
|
|
Share:  
|
  Be the
first of your friends to like this.
The Obama administration is considering relaxing financial restrictions
that prevent the use of U.S. dollars in transactions with Iran, according
to U.S. officials speaking with the Associated Press.
The Treasury Department has created a general license allowing offshore
financial institutions to access U.S. dollars for currency trading in
conjuncture with legitimate business transactions with Iran, even though
this practice is currently illegal.
Some lawmakers are furious, considering Iran's increasingly belligerent behavior. Moreover, the proposed policy was
not part of last year's nuclear agreement signed with Iran.
"These reports are deeply concerning, to say the least...As Iran
continues to undermine the spirit of its nuclear agreement with illicit
ballistic missile tests, the Obama administration is going out of its way
to help Tehran reopen for business. The president should abandon this
idea," House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday in a statement.
Since the U.S. dollar is the world's dominant currency, it is frequently
used in global financial transactions and conversions. Sanctions prevent
Iran from exchanging the money on its own, while international banks are
threatened with heavy fines and potential cut off from the American
financial market if caught facilitating Iranian transactions involving U.S.
currency.
Senior administration officials justify additional assistance to Iran.
"We do believe that they are complying [with the nuclear
accord]...Ballistic missiles, support for terrorism, destabilizing
activities in the region, that's not the nuclear deal...It's a separate set
of issues in which we have the ability to respond," Ben Rhodes,
President Obama's deputy national security adviser, told reporters on
Thursday.
Top Democrats also objected to the new proposal.
In a letter to the president, U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Cal., argued
that allowing the dollar for business transactions with Iran "is
clearly not required" by the nuclear agreement and would encourage the
Iranians to demand more concessions.
"I do not support granting Iran any new relief without a
corresponding concession. We lose leverage otherwise, and Iran receives
something for free," added Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No.2-ranked House
Democrat.
The proposal violates an administration promise to preserve non-nuclear
penalties on Iran following the nuclear deal. Critics argue that the large
influx of money will help Iran increase its sponsorship of terrorism worldwide and
enhance its regional expansion. In light of recent sanctions relief, Iran
continues to invest in the murder of Israelis and anti-regime
critics abroad.
UK
School Promotes Radical Islam, Anti-Semitism, and Jihad
by IPT News • Apr 1, 2016 at
10:23 am
|
|
|
|
|
Share:
|
Be the
first of your friends to like this.
A private Islamic school in the United Kingdom is propagating radical
Islam, promoting anti-Semitic propaganda and teaching that British customs
are prohibited, Sky News reports.
In a leaflet, Mufti Zubair Dudha, the founder and head of the Islamic
Tarbiyah Academy in Dewsbury, quoted the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a
notoriously anti-Semitic forgery which accuses the Jews of trying to
conquer the world.
Dudha hails from the orthodox Deobandi Muslim sect, which is believed to
control half of the Islamic schools and mosques in the United Kingdom.
Other disseminated materials assert that all mixed-gender institutions
are evil and prohibit Muslims from watching television. The extremist
messages also dictate that women should not work and should be fully
covered when leaving the house.
Dudha also calls for Muslims to engage in violent jihad and prepare to
"expend...even life" in order to establish a world operating
"according to Allah's just order."
Dewsbury, about 35 miles northeast of Manchester, has a history of
Islamist radicalization among its youth. Britain's youngest suicide bomber,
its youngest convicted terrorist, and one of the bombers from the July 7,
2005 (7/7) attacks all came from Dewsbury.
"After what we have seen in Paris and in Brussels and the way in
which the Muslim community has come out so strongly in favour of peace and
tolerance, I think these kinds of leaflets serve no purpose but to divide
in a poisonous and totally reckless way," Keith Vaz, chair of the Home
Affairs Select Committee, told Sky News.
Members of Parliament are investigating radicalization and the
government said that it will seek to regulate madrassas.
"These serious allegations are under investigation. While it would
be inappropriate to comment on the specific investigations of these
institutions, we are clear that extremism has no place in our society and
we are determined to protect children from it," the Department for
Education said.
In response, Dudha said he believes the radical publications were
"misrepresented to link the Academy with extremism."
The U.K. has grappled with Islamic radicalism among some of its schools
in the past, as evidenced by the 2014 "Trojan Horse" teaching scandal in Birmingham. Back
then, the U.K.'s Office for Standards in Education confirmed that hardline
Islamists attempted to take over some state schools. The report found that
staff and teachers felt "intimidated" and bullied in order to
conform to strict Islamist teaching principles.
|
Print
Send
Comment
RSS
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment