House Minority Leader Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that Iran “may” do bad things with the money it gets under the sanctions relief in the Iran nuclear deal and the Iran’s eventual release of US sailors it captured showed that the “diplomatic relationship with Iran, diplomatic relationship with Iran, at least in terms of the nuclear treaty has served us well” on Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day.”
Pelosi said that Iran capturing 10 US sailors and eventually releasing them is “proof that building a diplomatic relationship with Iran, at least in terms of the nuclear treaty has served us well in resolving this so quickly.”
She further stated, regarding the sanctions relief Iran gets under the deal, “I think it’s really important for the American people to realize though, that the money that is being released is Iranian money held in banks, other banks, not in US banks. So, it isn’t about us giving them anything. It’s about them having access to their own money if they meet the terms of the agreement. And we have to be very vigilant to make sure that they do.”
Anchor Chris Cuomo then pointed that out that critics would say “you are giving fuel to the Iranian fire. Fair criticism?” Pelosi responded, “It’s their money, and it was — the sanctions were there for a reason.”
Cuomo then cut in, “Because they do bad things with the money.” Pelosi said in response, “Yeah, well, they may. And they have lots of needs in their own economy that they’ll have to invest in. They have been doing bad things with the money that they had. But the fact is is the biggest threat to all of us is that Iran would have a nuclear weapon. We have taken them off that course. How much is that worth? Of their own money?”
(h/t Real Clear Politics)
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