Politics

Kerry Acknowledges Iranian Sanctions Relief Funds Could End Up In Terrorists’ Hands [VIDEO]

Steve Guest Media Reporter
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Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that he is sure that some of the $55 billion of sanctions relief that Iran has received will end up in the hands of terrorists.

In an interview from Davos, Italy, from the World Economic Forum on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Kerry was asked if he believed if any of the $55 billion of sanctions relief could end up in the hands of terrorists.

“I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] or of other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” Kerry replied.

“You know, to some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that could be prevented, but I can tell you this, right now, we are not seeing the early delivery of funds going to that kind of endeavor at this point in time,” he continued. “I’m sure at some point some of it will.”

“But that has never made the difference of what is happening there,” Kerry claimed. “Let me give you an example. The Saudis alone spend $80 billion a year on defense. The entire gulf state community spends $130 billion on defense. Iran spends $15 billion a year on its military activities. So it’s so incredibly disproportionate that I believe that working with our gulf state partners, which we are going to do and which we are upgrading, we have the ability to guarantee that they will be secure, that we will stand by them even as we look for this potential of a shift in behavior.”

The $55 billion of sanctions relief is 366.7 percent of Iran’s military budget, 68.75 percent of Saudi Arabia’s military budget, and 42.31 percent of the entire gulf state community military budget.

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