The Biden administration’s folly in concluding a prisoner swap deal that is expected to reward cash-strapped Iran with $US6bn or more shows it learned nothing from Barack Obama’s wrongheaded “cash-for-hostages” agreement with the terrorist-supporting regime. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described last week’s removal of five Iranian-Americans from jail in Tehran to house arrest, pending their release, as the “beginning of the end of their nightmare”. Welcome as that is, it raises the question “At what price?’’, given the ayatollahs’ record of using extortionist payola to boost funding for terrorism.
The deal the Biden White House is finalising hinges on the transfer of $US6bn to $US7bn, depending on exchange rates, in Iranian oil revenues frozen in South Korea since 2019 when the Trump administration imposed sanctions on such transactions. The intention is to convert the money from South Korean won to euros and transfer it to the small Gulf state of Qatar, which will be responsible for its administration. According to Mr Blinken, the impending windfall for the ayatollahs, as they continue to support terrorist groups, pursue their nuclear ambitions aimed at the destruction of Israel and persecute Iranian women for not wearing hijabs cannot be regarded as sanctions relief. The funds, he said, will be held in escrow, with Qatar to ensure they are used “for humanitarian purposes” only.
Read the editorial commentary in The Australian.