Iranian president laughs at the Biden administration by saying he’ll use $6 BILLION from ‘hostage’ deal on whatever he wants – and not just on humanitarian trade as the US promised
Iran’s president mocks Biden administration by saying he will use $6 billion from ‘hostage deal’ for whatever he wants – not just humanitarian trade as US promised
- Five American citizens will be released in exchange for five captured Americans
- The US says $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues will be controlled for ‘humanitarian’ use
- Iranian resident Raisi says: ‘we will decide’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi says his country will use $6 billion in released funds “where we need it.” He rejects a restriction in negotiations with the US that limits the money to “humanitarian purposes.”
Raisi’s comments, in a conversation with NBC The news in Tehran comes a day after the Biden administration announced the extraordinary deal that would release five detained Americans while freeing up funding for Tehran.
In the interview, Raisi told the network’s Lester Holt that the needs of the Iranian people would be determined “by the Iranian government,” after being specifically asked if this would be for humanitarian purposes, including food and medicine, in a country that hit by crippling inflation. amid economic sanctions.
“This money belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and of course we will decide – the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide – to spend it where we need it. How to spend our money is of course under the authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.
“This money belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said when asked about part to free up $6 billion in oil revenues as part of a deal to free five American citizens.
Holt emphasized that it could be used for “more than.” humanitarian purposes”, he underlined: “Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need, so this money will be budgeted for those needs. And the needs of the Iranian people will be determined and determined by the Iranian government.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week granted Tehran a waiver to access $6 billion in oil revenues that had been blocked by South Korean banks due to sanctions during the prisoner swap.
The US says a Qatari bank will oversee the funds to ensure they go to humanitarian purposes.
National Security spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that “on September 8, Secretary Blinken took a procedural step in an ongoing process to ensure that Iranian funds can be moved from one restricted account to another and remain restricted.” to humanitarian trade.”
The deal has been in the works for months and was finally announced this week as Biden prepared to leave for the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the funds “can only be used for humanitarian purposes, and we will remain vigilant in monitoring the spending of those funds and have the ability to refreeze them as needed.’
A senior Biden administration official told NBC following the Iranian president’s comments that the money would be held at a bank in Qatar and that “every transaction will be monitored by the U.S. Treasury Department – one transaction at a time.”
The official added: “It is for humanitarian aid only.”
Raisi also said that the five Americans who will be exchanged for five Iranians held captive in the US were “completely healthy.”
“They are very healthy and according to our latest information they are completely healthy,” he said.
The five US citizens to be released include Siamak Namazi, 51, Emad Sharqi, 59, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, a US-UK match-up, as well as two unidentified US citizens.