On Tuesday, The US made a prisoner trade with Iran: 5 Iranians for 5 Americans—plus $6 billion. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken signed off on the deal late last week. Congress was made aware on Monday.
The trade has rightfully drawn scrutiny from US officials and political commentators alike.
In a press conference Wednesday, Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich grilled White House official John Kirby about the decision, demanding to know why, in addition to an equal prisoner trade, the US also had to give over $6 billion.
"This is the deal that we were able to strike," Kirby said.
Even former President Donald Trump weighed in:
"So, lets get this straight! We did a hostage TRADE with Iran. We gave them 5 very tough, smart people that they desperately wanted. We likewise got back 5 people BUT, we also gave them 6 BILLION DOLLARS! How much of a kickback does Crooked Joe Biden get? Does anyone realize how much money 6 Billion Dollars is?" He posted on Truth Social.
Many highlighted that this trade has the potential to incentivize our geopolitical opposers to attempt a similar transaction by taking American hostages.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said on X, “this agreement will entice rogue regimes, like Iran, to take even more Americans hostage. The ayatollah and his henchmen are terrorists and truly represent a terrorist state."
Sen. Ted Cruz speculated that Biden could be striking a "secret nuclear deal with the Iranian regime.”
The $6 billion of oil revenue that was frozen through US sanctions had been kept in an account in South Korea.
A senior Biden administration official stated that "No funds are going to Iran directly. These funds will be moved to restricted accounts in Qatar, and the United States will have oversight as to how and when these funds are used."
But in an interview with NBC News, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said: "This money belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran and naturally we will decide, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will decide to spend wherever we need it."
Responding to questions of if the funds would be put towards humanitarian needs specifically, he responded, “Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need. This money will be budgeted for those needs and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government.”
