Rep. R-Texas Mike McCaul mocked the agreement orchestrated by the Biden administration for Iran to release five Americans in exchange for $6 billion in assets and imprisoned Iranians.
“Reagan said trust but verify. I have to use the word naivete,” McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Look, I want to get these Americans home more than anyone. And one of them is critical,” McCaul said. “I agree, but we have to go wide-eyed; $6 billion now going to Iran to support their proxy war terror operations and their nuclear bomb aspirations. They are now starting to talk about the JCPOA all over again , which I believe leads to a legal nuclear bomb in Iran. Prime Minister Netanyahu has spoken out strongly against this. I think we are going back to the mistakes of the past.”
BIDEN REACHES $6BILLION AGREEMENT TO FREE AMERICANS IN EXCHANGE FOR IMPRISONED IRANIANS
McCaul also referred to how the State Department placed President Biden’s envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, on unpaid leave in June during a review of his security clearance.
“Our special envoy for Iran to negotiate the JCPOA is under investigation for mishandling classified information,” McCaul said. “He has the most sensitive information as our top negotiator with Iran and with the Ayatollah, who is now under investigation for mishandling classified information – a very disturbing story.”
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Later on the same program, Representative Adam Smith, D-Wash., defended the prisoner exchange deal, arguing that the billions in funds would be controlled by Qatar.
Iran has transferred five Iranian Americans from jail to house arrest in exchange for billions of dollars frozen in South Korea, US and Iranian officials said Thursday, as part of a tentative deal that follows months of heightened tensions between the two countries. Iran acknowledged that the deal involves $6 billion to $7 billion that has been frozen due to sanctions. Iranian officials said the money would be transferred to Qatar before being sent to Iran if the deal goes through.
The final transfer of the money — and the release of the five prisoners — is expected in the next month or so due to the complicated nature of the financial transactions, officials said.
In a statement Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry said: “The decision on the use of these unfrozen assets and financial claims rests with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” The statement went against claims that the money would only be released by Qatar to Iran for specific purposes.
Fox News host Shannon Bream noted that critics of the deal said it amounted to an exorbitant ransom payment.
“But again, it’s not,” Smith said. “Where were those real concerns during the Trump administration when money from a number of other countries was transferred to Iran without obligation, did not return prisoners? It just doesn’t seem like a legitimate complaint based on the facts of the situation.”
“That’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what this money is,” Smith argued, countering former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s criticism that the deal would mean putting a bounty on Americans’ heads. “It’s not a premium because we’re not paying the money. It’s Iran’s money that was in South Korea.”
“Withheld under sanctions,” Bream interrupted, clarifying. Smith further stated, “It’s not a bounty.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
