Biden Puts the Iran Deal on Its Deathbed: Conflicts of Interest #302

On COI #302, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman break down the latest Afghanistan and Iran news, as well as President Joe Biden’s recent claim that U.S. troops are not involved in combat in the Middle East anymore. Biden’s new Washington Post op-ed included this false statement. Only last month, Biden wrote a letter to Congress which said U.S. troops remained stationed in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Kyle discusses the combat nature of these troops’ missions. Kyle also covers the recent talks in Doha between the U.S. and the Taliban. These meetings take place in the wake of an earthquake that rocked Afghanistan killing roughly 1,000 people last month. Both sides discussed the billions in Afghanistan’s Central Bank’s reserves Washington froze after the Taliban took over the country last year. This policy combined with the sanctions imposed on the Taliban government has led to a liquidity crisis, and threatened millions with malnutrition, food insecurity, and starvation. Nothing was resolved, but a spokesman for the Taliban’s foreign minister said both sides were satisfied with talks. They agreed to continue these discussions in the future. Connor details the latest accusations against Iran, the British claim they seized some speed boats earlier this year that were carrying arms to the Houthis in Yemen. Tehran has rejected this allegation and called out the UK for its hypocrisy in arming and supporting the Saudis in their genocidal war against the Yemenis. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, on the eve of Biden’s Middle East trip, also accused the Iranians of providing drones to the Russians for use in the Ukraine war. The U.S. and Israel continue to lay the ground work for the anti-Iran alliance with the U.S. backed Arab states but many countries are resisting the idea including Qatar, Kuwait and especially Iraq.