The Biden administration has made a dangerous deal with Iran to release five American hostages in exchange for five Iranians held in U.S. jails and at least $6 billion of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea. This ransom payment for the hostages is an alarming trend that is likely to get worse and sends a message to other rogue regimes that taking American citizens hostage will be rewarded with large sums of money.
Trump MidEast adviser says Americans were duped into thinking $6B to Iran was for hostages but really for Nuclear Deal | Just The News https://t.co/YsHMeGvbcg
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) September 29, 2023
This amount, about $1.2 billion per hostage, is far higher than what was paid previously for the release of hostages and rewards Tehran for seizing innocent civilians in an act of state-sponsored human trafficking. The funds released will bolster the Iranian regime’s power, provide resources to repress its people, and increase its ability to threaten the world through terrorism, missiles, drones, and nuclear weapons.
“House Republicans on Thursday filed a resolution expressing disapproval of the Biden administration's $6 billion ransom deal with Iran amid reports of ongoing diplomacy between Washington and Tehran, https://t.co/dcareoR6Ry
— Alireza Nader علیرضا نادر (@AlirezaNader) September 28, 2023
The administration claims that these funds can only be used for humanitarian purposes. Still, there is no way to guarantee this, and it could easily lead to the diversion of the funds by Iran’s government or powerful interest groups who would benefit from them. Furthermore, the agreement between Biden and Iran amounts to an illegal end-run around Congress as sanctions relief is being granted without congressional review, which goes against the 2015 law requiring such agreements be submitted for review by Congress first.
Fact-checking the @nytimes “fact-check” on the #Iran deal: It fails to mention that this deal was a 5-for-5 prisoner swap with essentially an additional $6 billion in sanctions relief added on top of it. Of the 5 regime-affiliated agents released by the US, at least 2 have… pic.twitter.com/edYDPQPqls
— Sarah Raviani (@sarahraviani) September 28, 2023
This type of appeasement towards Iran puts Americans at risk abroad. It does nothing to address the long-term dangers posed by their nuclear advances or support of terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas. It appears that President Biden was repeating President Carter’s mistakes during the 1979-1981 Iranian hostage crisis when he made concessions without extracting any from Tehran, which weakened his bargaining position and credibility, thereby leading him down a path of retreat rather than progress in negotiations with them.
US, Iran diverge over terms of $6 billion in prisoner release deal – The Hill https://t.co/OZj8svKWaI
— Alec Chivalry (@ArtVandelay2021) October 4, 2023
Congress must take action now before it’s too late – they must exercise their oversight responsibilities over this deal as well as all future negotiations with Iran if we want any hope at all in addressing the threats posed by their nuclear program or proxy forces like Hezbollah or Hamas while protecting innocent lives abroad from becoming victims of state-sponsored human trafficking through kidnapping or other means.
