American and Iranian prisoner swap releases $6 billion for Iran
Five U.S. citizens were released from Iran and arrived in Doha. Five Iranians have been freed from U.S. custody and similarly travelled to release points. Included in this deal is the release of $6 billion of Iranian funds to be transferred from South Korea to Qatar. Republican Michael McCaul said that this deal would lead to more American detentions in Iran.
From Reuters:
“We will continue to impose costs on Iran for their provocative actions in the region,” he said in the statement, in which he thanked the governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland and South Korea for their assistance in securing the releases.
Qatar mediated indirect U.S.-Iran talks on the prisoners while Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Tehran because the United States and Iran do not diplomatic relations, helped with the transfer of funds from South Korea to Qatar.
A plane sent Qatar flew the five U.S. citizens and two of their relatives out of Tehran after both sides got confirmation the $6 billion was transferred from South Korea to Qatari accounts, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.
A prominent Republican, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, said the transfer of the $6 billion would likely lead to more detentions of U.S. citizens by Iran.
“I am very concerned that this $6 billion hostage deal incentivises future hostage-taking,” McCaul said in an emailed statement. “There is no question this deal will free up funds for Iran’s malign activities.”
Biden aides argue the money belongs to Iran and is being transferred from restricted South Korean accounts to restricted Qatari accounts, where it can only be spent on food, medicine and other humanitarian items with U.S. oversight.
Earlier, two of the five Iranians landed in Qatar, a U.S. official said. Three have opted not to return to Iran.
The five Iranian Americans – one of whom had been held for about eight years on charges the United States had rejected as baseless – were due to board a U.S. government aircraft in Doha and then fly home to the United States.
Reuters has additional information.
Category: International Affairs, Iran, Joe BIden
“Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute”.
That used to mean something.
Just when you think your government can’t disappoint you anymore they just lower that bar and climb right under it.
It’s not even a bar anymore. Just a chalkline.
We used to have more spine:
Me thinks.
And congress wouldn’t give Trump $3 billion for the wall as “too expensive…”
Gotta protect the regimes money cleansing machine.
AH, It’s only money honey, big shmaltz, Gee, that sounds like Money Honey sung by Clyde Mcphatter and the Drifters 1953 on the Atlantic record Label.
Kipling has something to say about this:
It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say: –
“Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away.”
https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_danegeld.htm
Except these people aren’t going away.
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.
Being descended from Normans, I suggest we focus more on the gelding of Danes than on paying them to go away.
How much is Hunter’s cut? Asking for a friend. 😜
Tell your friend Hunter he gets nothing😄
In response, he’ll just splash some canvas with paint and make enough to buy his crack for that week.
This ‘un shoulda been posted on the SPoTW Thread.
“Never underestimate Joe’s ability to f*ck things up!” His former boss and current puppet master, BHO.
“Three have opted not to return to Iran.” We’ll hear from them again when “The Day of Wrath” comes.
Prepare
The completely lopsided nature of this deal should be a signal to every single American citizen that this is not the foreign policy leader we need.
Yet people in Lahaina (sp?) got 700 bucks per house destroyed and the people of East Palestine Ohio got diddly.
As has been said many times, our government cares not even the first little bit about any of its citizens.
Pallets of cash distributed to Iran several years ago and now this. By extension, the U.S. is supporting state-sponsored terrorism.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Those dual citizens who want to make a few bucks traveling to Iran and doing business with a country that wants to destroy “The Great Satan” you are on your own. If you want to treat US citizenship as a “flag of convenience” whenever your other citizenship becomes “inconvenient” then you can stay in your ancestral land.