President Joe Biden’s appalling move to unfreeze $6 billion of Iran’s assets as part of a lopsided prisoner-exchange deal has enraged Americans, including some Democrats who say the deal is “rewarding bad behavior.”
On Sept. 11, the Biden administration unfroze $6 billion in assets and released several Iranian prisoners in exchange for the release of five American hostages who hold both Iranian and U.S. citizenship. The hostages were released Monday, according to the BBC.
The disgraceful prisoner swap ignited furious backlash, with critics saying the deal contravenes a longstanding U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists. The asymmetrical transaction also incentivizes the kidnapping of more Americans for profit.
Even some Democrats rebuked the Biden administration over the shocking move.
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey — the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — told reporters last week the deal could create incentives for more hostage-taking.
Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York expressed his disgust Monday.
“I have real concerns about this deal,” Ryan said in a CNN interview. “I understand … the human side of it and the tragedy, but I am concerned that we’re rewarding bad behavior here — decades of bad behavior by the Iranian regime — so I think we have to look more closely at this.”
Ryan, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who did two tours of duty in Iraq, underscored that Iran — the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism — has a long history of bad-faith dealings.
Under the transaction Biden approved, Iran is required to use the $6 billion in unfrozen assets for humanitarian aid only.
However, just one day after the White House announced the deal, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi humiliated Biden by proclaiming that he will use the money however he wants.
This doesn’t surprise Ryan, who said negotiating in bad faith is what Iran has always done.
“I don’t look at this with a Democrat or a Republican lens. I look at it with the lens of my experience and service, my view of what’s good for national security,” he told CNN. “And you saw the comments from the Iranian president over the last week or two of, ‘We’re gonna use this money however we want.’”
Ryan continued: “I faced these guys directly in Iran where they were killing my fellow soldiers, I have very little tolerance for their continued behavior.”
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in a Monday post on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump called Biden “dumb as a rock” for approving the “absolutely ridiculous $6 billion hostage deal.”
He warned that the lopsided deal is setting a dangerous precedent and will only embolden more bad behavior from America’s enemies.
“I brought 58 HOSTAGES home from many different countries, including North Korea, and I never paid anything,” said Trump, the leading GOP candidate in the 2024 presidential race.
“They all understood they MUST LET THESE PEOPLE COME HOME! Toward the end, it got so that countries didn’t even start the conversation asking for money, because they knew they would not get it.”
“Once you pay, you always pay, & MANY MORE HOSTAGES WILL BE TAKEN,” the former president said. “Our grossly incompetent ‘leader,’ Crooked Joe Biden, gave 6 BILLION DOLLARS for 5 people. Iran gave ZERO for 5. He’s Dumb as a ROCK!”
In addition to the crippling inflation, terrifying crime waves and daily border invasions that have become the hallmark of Biden’s dumpster-fire presidency, you can now add emboldening terrorism and incentivizing the kidnapping of Americans to his growing list of shameful failings.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
