World
US frees up billions in sanctions relief to Iran as Tehran proxies wreak havoc in region
White House national security advisor John Kirby on Friday said the funds from a sanction waiver extended this week by the Biden administration to permit Iraq to purchase energy from Iran will not go to its “mullahs.”
“None of this money goes to the mullahs. None of this money goes into Tehran. The sanctions relief that is provided actually goes to vendors that provide humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people,” he told Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, during a Friday press briefing. “Not only do the Iraqi people not suffer because of this, the Iranian people aren’t going to suffer because of this.”
“That allows for Iraq to be able to work its way off of Iranian energy so that they can keep the lights on,” Kirby said.
The Biden administration on Thursday came under criticism after it again extended a sanction waiver despite repeated pushback from those concerned that Iran could misuse the funds.
In an email to Fox News Digital, a State Department spokesperson said, “Under these waivers, no money has been permitted to enter Iran.”
A huge mural of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei Iran’s Supreme Leader painted next to a smaller one of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (R) is seen on Motahari street on March 8, 2020, in Tehran, Iran. The message on the wall reads, “The power and influence and dignity of America in the world is on the fall and extermination,” and on top of the building, another slogan reads, “We are standing till the end.” (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
BIDEN ADMIN UNDER PRESSURE TO STOP BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SANCTIONS RELIEF TO IRAN
“Money goes straight to the trusted vendor or financial institution in another country. The money never touches Iran,” the spokesman added in reference to the reported $10 billion in Iraqi payments held in an escrow account.
The extension was renewed just six weeks after three U.S. service members were killed in Jordan, and more than 30 others injured, in a drone attack by Iran-backed militia in Iraq.
Despite the administration’s assurances that the sanction waiver has not enabled Tehran to access direct funds, critics of the move remain skeptical.
“This waiver helped subsidize the murder of three American soldiers in Jordan and non-stop attacks on the U.S. Navy and American-owned ships in the Red Sea,” Richard Goldberg, a Senior Advisor with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said in a statement on Thursday. “Continuing to give Iran access to billions will only further fuel terrorism, missile proliferation and nuclear escalation.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi brought renewed criticism to the waiver after a September agreement that saw the release of five American prisoners in exchange for five Iranian citizens and Washington’s unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian oil assets previously locked up under U.S. sanctions.
Recent reports claim the U.S. is close to a deal with Iran that would free U.S. citizens held in Iran and also delay Iran’s nuclear program. (Photo by Probst/ullstein bild via Getty Images; Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
ISRAEL’S ‘SWORN ENEMY’ HEZBOLLAH TELLS IRAN IT WOULD FIGHT ALONE IF CONFLICT ESCALATES
In a claim during an NBC interview, Raisi said the funds would be used “wherever we need it.”
“This money belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money,” Raisi told NBC’s Lester Holt. “Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people needs, so this money will be budgeted for those needs and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government.”
A spokesperson for the State Department told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the funds incurred under Iraqi energy imports are held in “restricted accounts” that can only be used “for the purchase of food, medicine, medical devices, agricultural products, and other non-sanctionable transactions.”
“There is no ‘sanctions relief’ in the Iraq electricity waiver,” the spokesman added. “Any suggestion that this waiver sends money to Iran, to support its terrorism or for any other reason, is wholly inaccurate.”
The Biden administration’s actions remove about six million acres of potentially oil-rich leases from an upcoming federal lease sale. (Getty Images)
The sanction waiver has remained a continuing practice since the Trump administration first implemented it as Iraq looks to cut its energy reliance on Iran.
Iraq has reportedly cut its dependence on Iranian energy imports by more than half since 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
World
Pope Leo says remarks about world being ‘ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ were not aimed at Trump: report
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Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that remarks he made this week in which he said the “world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not directed at President Donald Trump, a report said.
The pope, speaking onboard a flight to Angola during his 10-day tour of Africa, said reporting about his comments “has not been accurate in all its aspects” and his speech “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting,” according to Reuters.
The news outlet cited the pope as saying his comments were not aimed at Trump.
“As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all,” the pope reportedly said.
’60 MINUTES’ ACCUSED OF USING LEFT-LEANING CARDINALS TO BAIT TRUMP INTO FEUD WITH VATICAN
Pope Leo XIV answers journalists’ questions during his flight from Yaoundé, Cameroon, to Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Luca Zennaro/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance later took to X to thank the pope for clearing the record.
“While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict — and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen — the reality is often much more complicated,” Vance wrote. “Pope Leo preaches the gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean he offers his opinions on the moral issues of the day.
“The President — and the entire administration — work to apply those moral principles in a messy world,” he continued. “He will be in our prayers, and I hope that we’ll be in his.”
The vice president’s comments came days after he told Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” that it would be best for the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality.”
“Let the President of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance said Tuesday.
Trump last Sunday accused Pope Leo XIV of being “terrible” on foreign policy after the pontiff criticized the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
“He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
POPE LEO SLAMS THOSE WHO ‘MANIPULATE RELIGION’ FOR MILITARY OR POLITICAL GAIN, TRUMP RESPONDS
Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump (Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images; Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During a speech in Cameroon on Thursday, the pope said, “We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.
Pope Leo XIV speaks as he meets with the community of Bamenda at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda on the fourth day of an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa April 16, 2026. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Bulgarians headed to the polls Sunday for the eighth time in five years, with anti-corruption candidate and former president Rumen Radev’s bloc tipped to win.
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The European Union’s poorest member has been through a spate of governments since 2021, when large anti-graft rallies brought an end to the conservative government of long-time leader Boyko Borissov.
Eurostat data shows Bulgaria consistently ranks last in the EU by GDP per capita. In 2025, Bulgaria (along with Greece) was at 68% of the EU average.
Radev, who has advocated for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, was president for nine years in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people.
He stepped down in January to lead newly formed centre-left grouping Progressive Bulgaria, with opinion polls before Sunday’s vote suggesting the bloc could gain 35% of the vote.
The former air force general has said he wants to rid the country of its “oligarchic governance model”, and backed anti-corruption protests in late 2025 that brought down the latest conservative-backed government.
“I’m voting for change,” Decho Kostadinov, 57, told reporters after casting his ballot at a polling station in the capital, Sofia, adding corrupt politicians “should leave — they should take whatever they’ve stolen and get out of Bulgaria”.
Polls are forecasting a surge in voter participation, with more than 3.3 million Bulgarians expected to cast ballots according to the Bulgarian News Agency.
Voting will close at 1700 GMT, with exit polls expected immediately afterwards. Preliminary results are expected on Monday.
‘Preserve what we have’
Borissov’s pro-European GERB party is likely to come second, according to opinion polls, with around 20%, ahead of the liberal PP-DB.
“I’m voting to preserve what we have. We are a democratic country, we live well,” said Elena, an accountant of about 60, who did not give her full name, after casting her vote in Sofia.
Front-runner Radev has slammed the EU’s green energy policy, which he considers naive “in a world without rules”.
He also opposes any Bulgarian efforts to send arms to help Ukraine fight back Russia’s 2022 invasion, though he has said he would not use his country’s veto to block Brussels’ decisions.
Pushing for renewed ties with Russia, Radev denounced a 10-year defence agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine signed last month – drawing fresh accusations from opponents of being too soft on Moscow.
The ex-president also stoked outrage online for screening images at his final campaign rally of his meetings with world leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“We need to close ranks,” he told around 10,000 cheering supporters at the rally, presenting his party as a non-corrupt “alternative to the perverse cartel of old-style parties”.
Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something “new”.
At a rally of his party earlier this week, he insisted GERB had “fulfilled the dreams of the 1990s” with such achievements as the country joining the eurozone this year.
‘No one to vote for’
Radev is aiming for an absolute majority in the 240-seat parliament.
A lack of trust in politics has affected voter turnout, which slumped to 39% in the last election in 2024.
But with Radev rallying voters, high turnout is expected this time, according to analyst Boryana Dimitrova from the Alpha Research polling institute.
Miglena Boyadjieva, a taxi driver of about 55, said she always votes, but the “problem is that there is no one to vote for”.
“You vote for one person and get others. The system has to change,” she told reporters.
Political parties have called on Bulgarians to show up for the polls, also to curb the impact of vote buying.
In recent weeks, police have seized more than one million euros in raids against vote buying in stepped-up operations.
They have also detained hundreds of people, including local councillors and mayors.
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