Iran’s president mocks Biden administration by saying it will use $6 BILLION ‘hostage’ deal for whatever it wants – not just humanitarian trade as promised United States.
- Five American citizens will be released in exchange for five imprisoned Americans
- US says $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue will be monitored for ‘humanitarian’ purposes
- Raïssi, an Iranian resident, says ‘we will decide’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his country would use $6 billion in released funds “wherever we need it,” rejecting a limitation on negotiations with the United States that limits the money to “humanitarian purposes.”
Raisi’s comments, during an interview with BNC The news in Tehran comes a day after the Biden administration announced an extraordinary deal that would free five detained Americans, while unlocking funding for Tehran.
In the interview, Raisi told the network’s Lester Holt that the needs of the Iranian people would be determined “by the Iranian government,” after he was asked specifically if it would be for humanitarian purposes, including food and medicines, in a country hit by crippling inflation. amid economic sanctions.
“This money belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran and, of course, we will decide – the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide – to spend it where we need it. Of course, how we spend our money depends on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.
“This money belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said when asked about a plan to unlock $6 billion in oil revenues as part of a deal to free five American citizens.
Holt insisted it could be used for “more than for humanitarian purposes,” he stressed: “Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need, 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.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week granted a waiver allowing Tehran to access $6 billion in oil revenues that had been blocked by South Korean banks due to sanctions imposed over the swap. prisoners.
The United States says a Qatari bank will oversee the funds to ensure they are intended for humanitarian purposes.
National Security spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that “on September 8, Secretary Blinken took a procedural step in an ongoing process to ensure that Iranian funds can flow ‘one account restricted to another and remain limited to humanitarian trade’.
The deal has been in the works for months and was finally announced this week as Biden prepares to travel to U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the funds “can only be used for humanitarian purposes, and we will remain vigilant in monitoring the spending of these funds and will have the option to freeze them again if necessary”.
A senior Biden administration official told NBC following the Iranian president’s remarks that the funds would be held in a bank in Qatar and that “every transaction will be monitored by the U.S. Treasury – transaction by transaction.”
The official added: “It is only for humanitarian aid. »
Raisi also said the five Americans who will be exchanged for five Iranians imprisoned in the United States were “in full health.”
“They are in very good health and, according to our latest information, they are in full health,” he said.
The five US citizens who will be released include Siamak Namazi, 51, Emad Sharqi, 59, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, a US-British national, as well as two unidentified US citizens.
