A fiery exchange and intense scrutiny of foreign policy of the Biden administration. That was the takeaway from a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Republican lawmaker Ted Cruz led the charge with a barrage of questions on Iran. At the receiving end was Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Cruz was blunt right from the start, calling it the worst foreign policy disaster in modern times. “We now have two simultaneous wars—the worst war in Europe since World War II and the worst war in the Middle East in 50 years. Both I believe were caused by this administration’s consistent weakness. Your foreign policy is precisely backwards from what a rational American foreign policy should be.”
This administration has shown constant appeasement to our enemies, Cruz alleged in the context of Iran.
Is the world better today now that Raisi is dead, asked Cruz. (Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other top officials were killed in a helicopter crash over the weekend.)
The Iranian people are better off, replied Blinken. The UN flag flies at half-mast to mourn Raisi’s death, isn’t that disgraceful, Cruz went on. Blinken tried to beat around the bush, then said “Americans aren’t mourning his death”.
Republicans have often described Biden’s move towards Iran as soft and weak, compared to Trump’s so-called muscular approach.
When you became Secretary, how much oil was Iran selling a day, asked Cruz. I have to come back to you on the numbers, said Blinken.
“Doesn’t surprise me that you don’t know; it was 300,000 (barrels a day),” Cruz rubbed it in.
“How much oil is Iran selling today?” You tell me, replied Blinken.
“2 million barrels a day”. Cruz then went on to Iran’s ghost fleet that helps the regime sell oil to evade American sanctions.
“How many ghost fleet ships did Iran have in November 2020?”
About 70, he said in the same vein as Blinken dithered. “We blocked 50 of them,” Blinken butted in. “Today, they have over 400,” Cruz shot back.
“You have been showering cash on Iran from Day 1. You and President Biden funded the October 7 attacks (by Hamas on Israel) by flowing 100 billion dollars to a genocidal regime that funded those attacks,” Cruz alleged.
“That statement is profoundly wrong. I think it’s a disgraceful statement,” pat came Blinken’s response. “We have gone at Iran repeatedly, with more than 600 sanctions. They are working hard to do what they can to get around the sanctions”.
It grew especially acrimonious towards the end. “You funded our enemies, you undermine our friends, and the world is much more dangerous as a result. And Americans are at greater jeopardy because of it,” Cruz said.
Blinken offered a counter: “We have stronger allies, stronger partnerships, stronger engagement from countries around the world to deal with a very dangerous world than we had.”
“We were alone, we aren’t anymore,” Blinken rounded it off.
