Politico has an in-depth look at the repercussions of the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran — and how some less-publicized prisoner releases and swaps hampered the government's willingness to pursue nuclear trafficking cases that were months or years in the making.
The 7 Iranian prisoners swapped as a part of the deal weren't all simply sanctions violators, as publicly put forward by the Obama administration. Some provided Iran with missile components and satellite technology.
DOJ also dropped international warrants against 14 fugitive Iranians — one of whom supplied U.S. components that powered the centrifuges of Iran's fledgling nuclear program; another provided components for IEDs used by militias in Iraq.
These swaps and the climate created by the Iran deal severely hampered the work of the National Counterproliferation Initiative, which is now reluctant to pursue nuclear trafficking cases out of fear they'll be stymied under the deal's parameters.
