Obama 'blocked' Hezbollah drugs trafficking investigation to secure Iran nuclear deal

Barack Obama’s administration has been accused of undermining an investigation into the terrorist group Hezbollah in order to secure its nuclear deal with Iran.

The former US president’s team was said to have put “roadblocks” in place to slow the investigation amid fears it would undermine negotiations with the regime. 

The claims were made in an article by Politico, the politics website, and relate back to when Mr Obama was in the White House.

The allegations are linked to Project Cassandra, a campaign launched in 2008 by the Drug Enforcement Administration against Hezbollah.

It was said to have detailed how the Iranian-backed terror group morphed from a political and military organisation into an “international crime syndicate”. 

In particular agents were said to be investigating an alleged $1 billion-a-year funding stream from drugs, weapons trafficking, money laundering and other crimes.

Interviews with dozens of people linked to the case revealed concerns that the allegations were not pursued as robustly as deserved for political reasons, according to Politico. 

The eight-year investigation came to a head just as the Obama administration was negotiating a deal for Iran to put aside their nuclear ambitions. 

David Asher, who helped establish Project Cassandra, is quoted as saying: “This was a policy decision, it was a systematic decision.

“They serially ripped apart this entire effort that was very well supported and resourced, and it was done from the top down.”

Kevin Lewis, an Obama spokesman who worked at both the White House and Justice Department in the administration, said: “There has been a consistent pattern of actions taken against Hezbollah, both through tough sanctions and law enforcement actions before and after the Iran deal."