Joe Biden has just made a $6 million dollar deal with Iran to release the American prisoners they are holding. The US will also release Iranian prisoners.
The $6 million in funds will come in the form of a bank transfer from South Korea to Qatar.
The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the sanctions waivers late last week, a month after U.S. and Iranian officials said an agreement in principle was in place. Congress was not informed of the waiver decision until Monday, according to the notification, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The outlines of the deal had been previously announced and the waiver was expected. But the notification marked the first time the administration said it was releasing five Iranian prisoners as part of the deal. The prisoners have not been named.
The waiver is likely to draw criticism of President Joe Biden from Republicans and others that the deal will boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to U.S. troops and Mideast allies.
This $6 billion will be “for Iran to use for the purchase of humanitarian goods”…
The waiver means that European, Middle Eastern and Asian banks will not run afoul of U.S. sanctions in converting the money frozen in South Korea and transferring it to Qatar’s central bank, where it will be held for Iran to use for the purchase of humanitarian goods.
The transfer of the $6 billion was the critical element in the prisoner release deal, which saw four of the five American detainees transferred from Iranian jails into house arrest last month. The fifth detainee had already been under house arrest.
Due to numerous U.S. sanctions on foreign banks that engage in transactions aimed at benefitting Iran, several European countries had balked at participating in the transfer. Blinken’s waiver is aimed at easing their concerns about any risk of U.S. sanctions.
People familiar with negotiations said they expect the detainees will be released as early as next week.
The waiver isn’t just for the $6 billion in South Korea…
The sanctions waiver applies to banks and other financial institutions in South Korea, Germany, Ireland, Qatar and Switzerland.
“I determine that it is in the national security interest of the United States to waive the imposition of sanctions … with respect to foreign financial institutions under the primary jurisdiction of Germany, Ireland, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland that are notified directly in writing by the U.S. government, to the extent necessary for such institutions to engage in transactions occurring on or after August 9, 2023,” Blinken wrote.
Who knows how much will be transferred to Qatar for Iran to use for ‘humanitarian goods’. Yeah, that’s what it will be used for because Iran is such a humanitarian country.
Once again a Democrat president is funding the biggest funder of terrorism. Even if the money isn’t ours – and I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a significant portion among that $6 billion in South Korea – we are still releasing it to Iran which means we are responsible for the boost to their economy and the money going to terrorism. And who will suffer the most from this? Probably Israel.