Rep. Michael McCaul warns Iran will use $6B in Biden hostage deal for ‘terror operations'
The Biden administration's plan to release $6 billion of Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea in exchange for five detained Americans has drawn criticism and warnings that the funds will be used to finance terror operations.
Late last week, Iran moved four Americans to house arrest from Evin Prison, with a fifth already under house arrest, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“We will continue to monitor their condition as closely as possible. Of course, we will not rest until they are all back home in the United States,” White House spokeswoman Adrienne Watson was quoted as saying in a statement.
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The deal includes the transfer of nearly $6 billion of Iran’s assets to an account in Qatar’s central bank, where it will be controlled for “humanitarian purchases,” according to The New York Times.
White House spokesman John Kirby told CBS News that Iran would only be able to use the funds for humanitarian purposes, such as food and medicine, and that there would be no sanctions relief in this hostage deal.
However, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” that the money would “prop up their proxy war, terror operations, and their nuclear bomb aspirations.”
The Iranian foreign ministry in Tehran has said the decision on how to utilize the unfrozen resources lies with the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to WSJ. Critics argue that money is fungible, and the “humanitarian purposes” line is a political cover to justify the money-for-hostages deal.
The prisoner swap also includes freeing Iranian criminals convicted of evading sanctions against Iran, according to The Daily Wire, which said the Americans will only be allowed to leave once the funds have been transferred to the Qatari account, and they will be flown to Qatar’s capital city of Doha.
The Biden administration has dispatched more aircraft and 3,000 Marines and Navy personnel to the Middle East to deter Iranian seizures of commercial ships, WSJ said in an editorial, adding that some of the funds might go to finance Shiite militias in Iraq that have targeted and killed Americans or to build drones and missiles for Russia to use against Ukraine.
The hostages deal might also be a step toward reviving some of the 2015 nuclear pact, which would ease sanctions on Iran in return for a freeze on uranium enrichment, the WSJ editors wrote, commenting that the Biden administration is eager to avoid catapulting negotiations with Iran to the top of the political agenda as the presidential election approaches.
Switzerland, Qatar and Oman have assisted in facilitating the negotiations. The Swiss ambassador to Tehran will have full access to Americans under house arrest, according to a person familiar with negotiations, WSJ said.
The hostages include Siamak Namazi, arrested in 2015 on charges of cooperating with a hostile government; Morad Tahbaz, jailed in 2018 for spying; and Emad Shargi, sentenced without trial in 2020 to 10 years for espionage. Two other hostages, including one woman, have asked for their identities to remain private.
Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence also criticized the agreement, saying, “Iran will now use this money to produce drones for Russia and fund terrorism against us and Israel,” the news outlet noted.
