Republicans blast President Biden for his ‘dumb as a rock’ $6 billion prisoner swap, allowing two of the Iranian prisoners to remain in the US, saying it will only encourage more Americans to be caught Held hostage.
Five American prisoners were released by Iran on Monday in a controversial prisoner swap that unlocks billions in Iranian assets.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called the exchange orchestrated by the Biden administration an “embarrassing appeasement.”
“Two of the five Iranians released under this terrible deal will remain in the United States. Joe Biden’s embarrassing appeasement not only makes Iran stronger, it makes America less secure,” he said. he writes on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The senator wrote a letter to Secretary of State Blinken obtained by DailyMail.com on Monday demanding more information on the release of the five Iranian agents, including the two who plan to remain in the United States.
Former President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to deplore the administration’s deal, calling Biden “dumb as a rock” for the deal, which he said will encourage future hostage taking.
“I brought back 58 HOSTAGES from many different countries, including North Korea, and I never paid anything. They all understood that they HAD TO LET THESE PEOPLE COME HOME! Towards the end, countries didn’t even start the conversation to ask for money because they knew they wouldn’t get it.
The funds were initially frozen in South Korea in 2018 by Trump.
U.S. citizens Siamak Namazi (center), Emad Sharqi (bottom left) and Morad Tahbaz (bottom right) disembark from a Qatari plane upon arrival at Doha International Airport, September 18, 2023.
From left, Morad Tahbaz, Siamak Namazi and Emad Sharghi walk away arm in arm from a Qatar Airways flight that took them from Tehran to Doha, Qatar, Monday, September 18, 2023.
“Once you pay, you still pay, and MANY MORE HOSTAGES WILL BE TAKEN.” Our blatantly incompetent “leader,” Crooked Joe Biden, gave $6 BILLION for 5 people. Iran gave ZERO for 5. He is stupid as a rock!
Trump was among the first to criticize the deal when details of it were made public on September 11, an ill-timed announcement that was widely criticized for its lack of sensitivity.
The Biden administration insists there are “guardrails” on how much Iran can spend, but Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said this week that Iran would decide how the money would be spent.
Iran has been labeled by the State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism, which prevents the United States from providing foreign aid, selling defense products and other financial restrictions.
Under the deal, Doha agreed to monitor how Iran spends unfrozen funds to ensure that the money is spent on humanitarian goods, such as food and medicine, and not on articles subject to American sanctions.
Only three of the five released American prisoners have been publicly named. They are businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, Emad Shargi, 59, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who is also a British citizen.
All were imprisoned in Iran for eight years based on what the Biden administration considers unsubstantiated espionage charges.
Among the Iranian prisoners is Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, a dual US-Iranian citizen who was jailed in February for supplying the Central Bank of Tehran with computer equipment and technology through a front company in the Arab Emirates united, and who was caught obtaining material that could be used in missiles and electronic warfare.
The White House defended the deal and Biden welcomed the return of “five innocent Americans” to the United States.
“And as we welcome our fellow citizens, I once again remind all Americans of the serious risks of traveling to Iran. U.S. passport holders should not travel there,” Biden said in a statement Monday.
“Reuniting unjustly detained Americans with their loved ones has been a priority of my administration since day one. »
But Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, called it a “metaphysical certainty” that the $6 billion will be “used to finance terrorism.”
‘For what? Because Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world,” he said last week on his Verdict podcast, in a discussion with co-host Ben Ferguson.
“This incentivizes all the dictators in the world to capture more Americans.” They set the going rate at $1.2 billion per American hostage. More Americans will be held hostage because of this and doing so on the anniversary of 9/11 is disgusting and dangerous.
House Speaker Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told DailyMail.com in a statement that he was “very concerned” about how these details “incite future hostage taking.”
“Even though the administration claims these funds are limited to humanitarian transactions, we all know that transactions are difficult to monitor and that money is fungible. There is no doubt that this agreement will free up funds for Iran’s malign activities,” McCaul continued.
Former President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to deplore the administration’s deal, calling Biden “dumb as a rock” for the deal, which he said will encourage future hostage taking.
Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi, freed in a prisoner exchange deal between the United States and Iran, arrive at Doha International Airport, Qatar, September 18, 2023.
An Iranian prisoner exchanges Reza Sarhang Pour and Mehrdad Moein Ansari at the airport in Doha, Qatar, September 18, 2023.
He warned all Americans against traveling to Iran because the “risks are far too great.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., criticized Biden for timing the prisoner exchange announcement on the 9/11 anniversary.
“The United States should never fund terrorism. Yet on the anniversary of 9/11, Joe Biden handed over $6 billion to Iran to reward the regime for unjustly detaining American citizens.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, she said it was “also concerning that Biden would allow two Iranian prisoners released from prison to remain in the United States.”
“Under this administration, our enemies are growing stronger. »
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., — who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee — called the deal a “slap in the face” to the families of 9/11 victims.
“President Biden should be ashamed,” he wrote on X last week.
