Snopes
Unproven
About this rating
What's True
More than 23,000 Iranian-born individuals were granted citizenship or lawful permanent residency in the U.S. in 2015.
What's False
We found no evidence that 2,500 of those persons were given preferential treatment as a result of nuclear deal negotiations.
What's Undetermined
Whether any relatives of Iranian government officials (or the officials themselves) were given preferential treatment to reside or travel in the U.S. in conjunction with nuclear deal negotiations.
Hojjat al-Islam Mojtaba Zolnour, who is chairman of Iran’s parliamentary nuclear committee and a member of its national security and foreign affairs committee, made the allegations during an interview with the country’s Etemad newspaper, cited by the country’s Fars News agency.
He claimed it was done as a favor to senior Iranian officials linked to President Hassan Rouhani, and he alleged the move sparked a competition among Iranian officials over whose children would benefit from the scheme.
He claimed that the deal was made during negotiations for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was reached in July 2015. President Trump announced in May that the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ALLEGEDLY GAVE IRAN ACCESS TO US FINANCIAL SYSTEM
“When Obama, during the negotiations about the JCPOA, decided to do a favor to these men, he granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians and some officials started a competition over whose children could be part of these 2,500 Iranians,” he claimed.
“If today these Iranians get deported from America, it will become clear who is complicit and sells the national interest like he is selling candies to America.”
The conservative Zolnour, who is in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s inner circle, added: “It should be stated exactly which children of which authorities live in the United States and have received citizenship or residency.”
Asked about the cleric's claim, a State Department spokesperson said: “We’re not going to comment on every statement by an Iranian official.”
Fox News analyst and former Obama State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf was dubious of the Iranian official’s allegation. “This sounds like totally made up BS,” she said.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment. A representative for Obama Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson also could not be reached for comment.
Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians during nuclear deal: Iran official