The controversial deal was announced Monday – on Sept. 11 of all dates – and includes five American prisoners for five Iranian detainees.
The deal also comes with $6 billion of frozen assets being freed up for Iran's regime to get their hands on it.
“If we see Iran acting in ways that do not comply with the arrangements that are agreed to, we will take actions to ensure that those funds cannot be spent for anything but humanitarian purposes,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller assured reporters at a press conference.
However, that’s not what Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told NBC News. In an interview from Tehran, Raisi told NBC’s Lester Holt his country would decide how the money is spent.
“Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need," Raisi said through an interpreter. "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."
The $6 Billion being put in the hands of the Iranian government came from Iranian oil revenues that were blocked in South Korean banks because of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
That amount is three times the amount that former President Barack Obama sent Iran in 2015, best known as a pallet full of cash, as part of his landmark agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. That plan called for Iran to dismantle much of its nuclear program in response to lifting of numerous economic sanctions.
President Donald Trump famously withdrew form the controversial deal in 2018.
“What we’re doing is essentially paying our enemies because they are probably in the top three of those who want to destroy America. They’ve been at this a long time,” William Boykin, the Family Research Council’s executive vice president, said on Washington Watch Tuesday. “All you need to do is think back to 1980 when they took 52 Americans and held them for 444 days before they finally released them.”
Boykin, a founding member of Delta Force, knows those events well. He was a member of that rescue attempt that failed when an aircraft crashed in the desert.
Rep. Mark Alford (R-Missouri) told show host Tony Perkins allowing the news to leak on 9-11 further shows the disconnect between the Biden administration and Americans.
“I think it's very sad," the congressman said. "You will remember two years ago that President Biden wanted to pull out of Afghanistan on the anniversary of 9/11 to make a statement. What ended up happening is some people with clear heads convinced him to get out just a few weeks earlier, so it would not be on this somber occasion."
Now, two years later, this deal with a terrorist state is leaked on 9/11, Alford pointed out.
Biden puts a bullseye on Israel
In the radio inteview, Alford said Biden just put a bullseye on Israel, a chief target of Iran.
“This is the No. 1 terrorist state in the world and they’re intent on doing away with Israel," he warned. "They are ready to build a nuclear bomb to get rid of Israel, and President Biden has seen fit to release this money to further their causes.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had followed through in the early stages of the 2015 agreement and that the European Union, United Nations and U.S. had responded by lifting sanctions.
However, Trump was a critic of the deal, saying its sunset provisions would only delay Iranian nuclear goals and that it did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for other hostile regimes in the area.
Iran began taking steps to restart its nuclear program in 2019.
Remember Al-Qaeda? They’ll get a share of this
Asked about his concerns, Boykin said Iran’s sudden windfall will expedite its nuclear development but will also strengthen a terrorist group that hasn’t been in the news as much in recent years.
“I’m concerned about two things. First of all, they will use this to enhance their long-range missile capabilities as well as their warhead development. Al-Qaeda has a rather large presence in Iran. We have to keep our eyes on Al-Qaeda because they’re still there, and they’re still out to do us harm,” Boykin told show host Tony Perkins.
The impact of this agreement will come but will not be immediate. There should be a greater sense of urgency for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
“That’s the bigger threat right now,” Boykin said. “The reports of Putin’s health...are they legitimate? I’ve read all that stuff, but I don’t know, but Kim Jong Un’s ability to put some very lethal material in his hands is a real threat.”
Boykin said Biden’s Iran deal will “absolutely” incentivize rogue regimes to hold American citizens as hostages.
“That said, hostages are going to be taken no matter what we do," he added. "That really is the result of weak leadership that America has demonstrated to the entire world, and our president did it again. He got over there in Vietnam where he was on center stage and told everybody he was going to be. That’s the most powerful man in the world? That’s the guy people expect to have answers, and it’s humiliating.”
