Republican officials blasted the Biden administration for “bowing to the Ayatollah” and “endangering” Americans, after it struck a deal with the Iranian regime to transfer five Iranian-Americans from prison to house arrest in exchange for billions in unfrozen assets.
On Thursday, the Biden administration’s deal with Tehran to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian financial assets and release a “handful” of Iranian nationals jailed for violating U.S. sanctions in exchange for five Americans taken prisoner by Iran on highly dubious charges of espionage, came to light.
“Iran’s frozen funds in South Korea will be unblocked and transferred to Qatar,” the Iranian mission to the United Nations stated, apparently referring to the $6 billion sum.
U.S. sources who spoke to the far-left New York Times publication and Reuters confirmed the financial aspects of the deal.
In response, Republican members took to social media to express harsh criticism of the “dangerous” move.
“While we always welcome the release of American hostages—if they are in fact released after President Biden pays Iran $6 billion in ransom—this craven act of appeasement will only embolden the ayatollahs to take more hostages,” wrote Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
“Iran will also use these ill-gotten gains to attack our troops, fund terrorism, and arm Russia,” he added in another tweet. “This cycle will continue until President Biden stops dancing to Iran’s tune and starts responding firmly and decisively to their aggression.”
Senator and presidential candidate Tim Scott released a statement accusing President Biden of “releasing $6 billion to the world’s largest state sponsor of terror.”
“U.S. sanctions have been critical in deterring the dangerous Iranian regime,” he added. “Bowing to the Ayatollah endangers Americans at home and abroad.”
“President Biden continues to put Americans’ safety and national security at risk with his terrible ‘deals,’” wrote House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis accused the president of “shamefully caving to Iran’s blackmail and extortion”:
Rewarding Iran for taking Americans hostage incentivizes more hostage-taking. The $6 billion ransom payment will help Iran build nuclear weapons, support terrorism, oppress the Iranian people, and assist Russia. Biden’s appeasement and weakness emboldens Iran to attack us and our allies, and facilitates Iran becoming closer than ever to nuclear weapons. Biden must stop obsessively pursuing disastrous deals that endanger our security. It is time to stand up to Iran with maximum pressure and roll back Iran’s malign influence.
“While I welcome the release of American hostages, the American people should know that @POTUS Biden has authorized the largest ransom payment in American history to the Mullahs in Tehran,” wrote former VP and presidential candidate Mike Pence (R-IN).
“While the @JoeBiden admin needs to be working to bring every American home, paying ransom to Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terror, is a reckless display of weakness that puts a price tag on the head of every American abroad,” wrote Senator Steve Daines (R-MT).
“Another lopsided deal by @POTUS and his administration!” wrote Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY).
“The USA should NOT be handing over BILLIONS to the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. And Iran KEEPS American hostages? This makes no sense and only encourages more kidnappings and other bad behavior!” she added.
“The terrorist regime in Tehran just received a gift of $6 billion from the Biden administration. Biden is showing our adversaries how to evade sanctions & is threatening the safety of Americans around the world,” wrote Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), sharing a clip of the former Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC calling for taking a thousand Americans hostage and getting billions to solve “part of our economic problems.”
“While we look forward to the return of these Americans, once again, Joe Biden has negotiated a dangerous deal for America. The Iranian regime now has more money to fund terrorism and it gives our enemies an incentive to kidnap more of our citizens,” wrote Senator Ted Budd (R-NC).
“President Biden has time and time again bent the knee to the Iranian regime. Giving them access to $6 BILLION is a complete and utter disaster that will lead to rampant crises in the region,” wrote Representative Lisa McClain (R-MI).
“What a disgrace,” she added.
“The U.S. government should NEVER negotiate with terrorists, let alone fund them. Now, the Biden administration is giving the Iranian mullahs $6 billion to finance terrorism and oppression of the Iranian people,” wrote Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York.
“Joe Biden is continuing Obama’s legacy of aiding countries that want to wipe America off the face of the earth. This is an appalling decision that will only encourage most hostile behavior from Iran,” wrote Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN).
“By paying billions in ransom to Iran, Biden is financing the world’s worst terror state,” wrote Rep. Darrell Issa (R-OH).
“Just when the American people thought Biden’s foreign policy couldn’t get any more disastrous, after his failed Afghanistan withdrawal, he kowtows to Iran,” wrote Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA).
“The American people deserve better,” he added.
“Gas prices are up again across the U.S. amid record inflation fueled by the Biden Admin.,” wrote Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV). “Biden just gave Iran $6 billion to fund terrorism.”
“I want Americans to come home without emboldening bad guys,” he added. “Another lopsided deal that encourages hostile behavior from our enemies.”
“The Biden Administration must explain itself for the unconscionable decision to unfreeze nearly $6 billion of Iranian assets,” wrote Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY).
“Releasing $6 billion to the butchers in Tehran just so American hostages can go to a different type of prison is a terrible deal. Iran shouldn’t profit from holding Americans hostage,” wrote former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The deal follows massive protests that have swept Iran following the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the Islamic theocracy’s notorious “morality police” for violating strict requirements for women to keep their heads covered in public.
Amini was reportedly abducted and killed by the force for having exposed some hair from beneath her mandatory Islamic headscarf.
Since then, a slew of incidents involving abuses and even deaths at the hands of the regime have been documented amid an ongoing clampdown on protests, with clips circulating showing Iranian regime officers brutally assaulting protesters.
In response, criticisms of the Islamic regime and its tactics have continued to grow.
In May, over a hundred former world leaders penned an open letter to the heads of the U.S., Canada, the E.U., and the U.K. calling for the regime in Tehran to be held accountable for its long-running crimes against humanity.
Among the more than 100 signatories of the letter, including 50 former presidents and 47 former prime ministers, were former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Italian ex-premier Matteo Renzi.
That same month, the United States announced sanctions against Iranians accused of plotting to assassinate former U.S. government officials, dual U.S. and Iranian nationals, and dissidents.
In October, representatives of Iran’s parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) claimed Iran is currently witnessing a revolution “in the making,” asserting that despite the crimes and “savagery” committed by the regime’s “suppressive forces” — including the killing and torturing of protesters during current protests against the Islamic regime by angry citizens — the Islamic Republic is no longer capable of containing the current uprising.
Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism worldwide, has long viewed the United States as a principal antagonist and has frequently accused the U.S. of inciting protesters in a bid to “destabilize” the region.
Previously, Iranian Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier-General Abolfazl Shekarchi affirmed that America is the Iranian republic’s top enemy, while the Islamic Republic’s “supreme leader” has boasted of having “defeated” the United States, as he assured a crowd of supporters that their “Death to America!” chant would yet be fulfilled as a “new order” would relegate the U.S. to isolation.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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