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How Much of Iran's Nuclear Deal Relief Funds Terrorism?
(JNS.org) Ariel Ben Solomon - Russia's military support for Assad is far more important for Iran than the limited economic benefits the Iranians have gained from sanctions relief and trade deals since the nuclear agreement, said Meir Javedanfar, a lecturer on Iranian politics at Israel's IDC Herzliya college. Javedanfar estimated that Iran has received less than $20 billion of the $150 billion in sanctions relief it secured in the nuclear deal. While the released funds have aided the Iranian regime, Javedanfar said President Rouhani's government is plagued by $100 billion in debt carried over from former President Ahmadinejad's tenure. The new sanctions leveled by the Trump administration will hamper Rouhani's ability to attract foreign investment. Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said, "sanctions relief coupled with the campaign to 'normalize' Iran has enabled its fighters, money and weapons to go largely unchecked throughout the region." Ronen A. Cohen, an Iran expert and the chair of the Department of Middle East Studies at Israel's Ariel University, asserted that "Iran will promote terror with or without the sanctions."