Tone-deaf Biden administration announces prisoner swap with Iran at the low, low price of $6B on 9/11

Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP

The Biden administration has struck a deal with Iran. The administration “agreed to free five Iranian citizens detained in the U.S. and issue a blanket waiver to allow international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money without fear of U.S. sanctions in exchange for Iranian officials releasing five U.S. citizens being held in Iran.” The tone-deaf Biden administration chose to announce the deal on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01.

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Why does it matter since Iran wasn’t responsible for the 9/11 attacks? Iran is recognized by the U.S. government as the foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Hezbollah is dominant in Iran. In 2020, Iran provided support to Hamas and other designated Palestinian terrorist groups. Iran supports acts of terrorism in the local region and globally. Yet, Team Biden continues to pursue outreach to Iran, as though a decent relationship is just one good negotiating session away. It’s never going to happen.

The deal for the Americans sounds like a really good deal – for the Iranians. They get their citizens back PLUS $6B in frozen money. The United States gets five citizens back. Seems a little lopsided, doesn’t it?

The Americans being freed are Siamak Namazi, an oil executive first detained in 2015 on a business trip to Iran; Emad Shargi, who was detained in 2018 without an explanation while traveling in Iran with his wife; Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American conservationist who also holds British citizenship; and two others—one man and one woman—who asked that their identity remain private, according to the AP.

The waiver will allow European and Asian financial institutions—specifically those in South Korea, Germany, Ireland, Qatar and Switzerland—to convert Iranian money that is frozen in South Korea without violating U.S. sanctions and transfer it to Qatar’s central bank, where it will be held for Iran to solely use for the purchase of humanitarian goods the U.S. government approves of, according to the AP.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved this deal late last week, but only notified Congress on Monday – 9/11/23. Couldn’t he have done it when he signed off on the deal? Or waited until Tuesday? Why did he have to do it Monday? The Biden administration is truly tone-deaf. It comes from the top – Joe Biden can’t make a speech or informal remarks without a strong cringe factor.

The detainees may be released as early as next week.

This is a deal that has been months in the making. There was some reporting on the deal as negotiations were ongoing. U.S. citizens in Iran were allowed to leave the prisons and instead be held under house arrest in August. The critical element was the release of frozen assets. No kidding. Though economic sanctions to restrict Iranian economic activity with the United States and it allies goes back to 1979, during the Trump administration, those sanctions intensified. The sanctions under Trump led to the $6B being frozen in South Korea. This is yet another example of Joe Biden being so desperate to prove he is not Donald Trump that he acts in the opposite direction. In this case, Biden is giving $6B back to Iran – the $6B Trump froze. You can’t make this stuff up.

Meanwhile, Iran and its regional allies are getting more aggressive toward the United States. The secretary-general of Lebanese Hezbollah issued a direct threat on August 28.

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The actions of the Biden administration on were unreal, even for them. His trip overseas for the G20 summit and his stop in Vietnam were complete bumbling and fumbling disasters for the whole world to witness. On his way back, he stopped off in Alaska, where he performed just as badly.

Biden told the service members present at his speech at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska that he was at Ground Zero the very next day. He was, in fact, in Washington, D.C. and delivered a speech on the Senate floor.

MSNBC made it sound like other presidents have delivered speeches on 9/11 that were not from sites of the attacks. They have not. Biden is the first to do so.

Biden calling for unity is rich. He’s the most divisive president I can remember, including Obama.

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He tried to lead off with a joke that landed with a thud.

This man needs to retire and go spend some time at the beach with his family. Republicans must choose wisely to send Biden packing in 2024.

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