President Joe Biden reportedly has agreed to send the Iranian regime billions of dollars in exchange for five American prisoners in the country to be moved from detention to house arrest.
"The United States and Iran have reached an agreement to win the freedom of five imprisoned Americans in exchange for several jailed Iranians and eventual access to about $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue, according to several people familiar with the deal," the New York Times reports. "As a first step in the agreement, which comes after more than two years of quiet negotiations, Iran has released into house arrest five Iranian American dual citizens, according to officials at the State Department and the National Security Council."
The details of the agreement are still unclear, but the five Americans currently detained in Iran aren't coming home. Instead, they're being shuffled around.
"We have received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans who were unjustly detained and has placed them on house arrest. While this is an encouraging step, these U.S. citizens - Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi, and two Americans who at this time wish to remain private - should have never been detained in the first place. 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," National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson released in a statement. "Until that time, negotiations for their eventual release remain ongoing and are delicate. We will, therefore, have little in the way of details to provide about the state of their house arrest or about our efforts to secure their freedom."
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is blasting the move.
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.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) August 10, 2023
President Joe Biden is in Utah and Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to give remarks at the State Department Thursday afternoon.
The administration argues the new influx of cash is for humanitarian relief, which includes food and medical supplies, but as the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism Iran regularly uses humanitarian relief to buy or build weapons for terrorist attacks. Many of them have been against U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East.
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