Anatomy of Biden’s Iran hostage deal: 5 Americans for $6 billion South Korea owes Iran for oil
Jamie McIntyre
‘A POSITIVE STEP’: Five Americans who the U.S. says have been unjustly imprisoned in Iran for years may soon be freed under terms of a Biden administration deal worked out through Swiss intermediaries that would release several jailed Iranians and unfreeze Iranian oil revenues held by South Korea.
The five, of which only three have been identified, are now under house arrest in a hotel in Tehran, but U.S. officials say the deal is not yet finalized. “My belief is that this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “It’s a positive step that they were released from prison and sent to home detention. But this is just the beginning of a process.”
The full details of the prisoner swap have not yet been disclosed, except that part of the deal would involve giving Iran access to about $6 billion in funds impounded by South Korea, yet with tight restrictions on how the money could be spent. “Iran will not be receiving any sanctions relief,” Blinken said. “Iran’s own funds would be used and transferred to restricted accounts such that the monies can only be used for humanitarian purposes, which, as you know, is permitted under our sanctions.”
“The State Department has been in contact with the five Americans,” he added. “We spoke to them today. I think they’re, needless to say, very happy to be out of prison, but we want to make sure that we complete this process and bring them home to their families.”
BIDEN REACHES DEAL WITH IRAN TO FREE US CITIZENS AND UNFREEZE $6 BILLION IN ASSETS
RANSOM OR NOT? The news of the deal immediately sparked the age-old debate over the wisdom of paying a ransom to secure the freedom of Americans held as political hostages.
“While I welcome the release of American hostages, the American people should know that @POTUS Biden has authorized the largest ransom payment in American history to the Mullahs in Tehran,” former Vice President and presidential candidate Mike Pence posted on X.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also weighed in on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “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.”
“This is not a ransom,” NSC spokesman John Kirby countered on CNN. “The account from which money could be accessed by the Iranians is an account set up in the previous administration that allowed other countries to import non-sanctionable goods.”
“What we’re talking about is the possibility of making that one account that has been in existence for several years more accessible to the Iranians,” Kirby said. “But they can only pull from that account for humanitarian purposes, and there is an oversight mechanism that’s already built into that process, so it’s not ransom.”
“Other countries who have had similar sanctionable accounts in their countries have given direct access to Iran to those funds,’ said Jason Rezaian, a journalist jailed by Iran for 544 days between 2014 and 2016. “It’s not a gift to Tehran or a payment from the U.S. government.”
Rezaian, now a columnist for the Washington Post, said he understands the debate over the “merits and the wisdom of doing these kinds of deals,” but he told CNN, “The reality is that if you don’t do a deal, you’re leaving Americans behind.”
Under the proposed arrangement, the frozen funds would be transferred to Qatar, which would control the assets and approve humanitarian-related expenditures such as for food or medicine.
LIFE IN TEHRAN’S NOTORIOUS EVIN PRISON: Among the five who are now under house arrest in Tehran is Siamak Namazi, an Iranian American who’s been held the longest, almost eight years, and whose father was also imprisoned when he traveled to see his son.
“It’s been absolutely brutal. I mean, he spent first two years being detained in the toughest part of Evin Prison by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, subjected to very, very terrible conditions of detention,” Jared Genser, a lawyer for the family, told CNN International. “Siamak himself has been left behind three times, once by President Obama in the 2016 nuclear deal and two more times by President Trump.”
Frustrated, Namazi gave a prison interview to CNN, risking retaliation from his tormentors.
“I think the very fact that I’ve chosen to take this risk and appear on CNN from Evin Prison, it should just tell you how dire my situation has become by this point. I spend months caged. I spent months caged in a solitary cell that was a size of a closet, sleeping on the floor, being fed like a dog from under the door,” he told CNN. “Honestly, the other hostages and I desperately need President Biden to finally hear us out, to finally hear our cry for help and bring us home. And I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. So, this is a desperate measure. I’m clearly nervous.”
The White House identified the five as Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi, and two Americans who it was said “wish to remain private” at this time.
BLINKEN DENIES PAYING RANSOM FOR US HOSTAGES: ‘IRAN’S OWN FUNDS WOULD BE USED’
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Conrad Hoyt. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre
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BILLIONS MORE FOR UKRAINE: The Biden administration is asking Congress for a supplemental funding measure totaling $40 billion, which includes $24 billion for Ukraine, but also billions for increased border security, disaster response, and firefighter pay.
The request includes $9.5 billion “for equipment for Ukraine and replenishment of DOD stocks; and $3.6 billion for continued military, intelligence, and other defense support,” and another $7.3 billion for humanitarian support.
“The move is already setting up a clash with the Republican-led House, where House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other Republicans have said they will not approve aid to Ukraine for the next fiscal year,” reported Samantha-Jo Roth, Washington Examiner congressional reporter. “An influential block of hard-line House conservatives is having a major influence on the spending process, and as a result, McCarthy and GOP leaders are preparing bills with less spending than previously agreed to in an effort to win over the votes of these members.”
“No. This should be a non-starter for the House GOP,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) posted on social media. “It’s time to stand up for Americans and against the uniparty.”
“This funding is decisive to Ukraine’s survival and America’s security. The Ukrainians have achieved remarkable, hard-won successes in their fight to defend their freedom, but there is difficult fighting ahead and much more to be done,” said Jack Reed (D-RI), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, in a statement.
“I will work with Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins to shape this bill and get it passed,” Reed said. “I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together and pass a comprehensive supplemental that makes America stronger, safer, and more secure.”
“A Republican-led House will not rubber-stamp any blank-check funding requests; rather, the administration’s emergency funding requests must be reviewed and scrutinized on their merits consistent with the practice and principles of our majority,” a McCarthy spokesperson said in a statement, according to Axios.
BIDEN DEFENSE SUPPLEMENTAL LOOMS OVER GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FIGHT
RAMPING UP AMMO PRODUCTION: The Pentagon says the U.S. defense base is successfully ramping up production of 155 mm artillery shells, the most-used type of ammunition in the current counteroffensive in Ukraine.
“We have provided to date over two million 155 mm ammo rounds to Ukraine since the start of the fight,” said spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder at yesterday’s Pentagon briefing. “We’ve also enabled a rapid increase in 155 ammo production. So from 14,000 a month in February of ’22 to approximately 24,000 a month currently, and we plan to be at over 80,000 a month over the following year.”
“While these stockpiles are not unlimited, we are comfortable where we’re at right now with our stockpiles and that we’ll be able to continue to work closely with allies and partners around the world on that front,” Ryder said.
Meanwhile, cluster bombs the U.S. has provided are filling the gap. “This right now has provided the Ukrainians with the capability to continue to take the fight to the enemy,” Ryder said. “We have all indications that they’re employing those weapons properly on the battlefield, as they indicated they would.”
NEW NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE STRATEGY: Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has released the 2023 National Intelligence Strategy, which lays out six goals for the intelligence community for the next four years.
“The United States faces an increasingly complex and interconnected threat environment characterized by strategic competition between the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation, felt perhaps most immediately in Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine,” the strategy document says.
“The six goals outlined in this NIS reflect key elements of the current strategic environment: the centrality of strategic competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation; the growing importance of emerging technologies, supply chains, and economic statecraft to national security; the increasing influence of sub-national and non-state actors; and the challenges stemming from the convergence of shared global challenges, such as climate change and health security,” Haines said in a statement.
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The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Biden reaches deal with Iran to free US citizens and unfreeze $6 billion in assets
Washington Examiner: Blinken denies paying ransom for US hostages: ‘Iran’s own funds would be used’
Washington Examiner: Biden defense supplemental looms over government shutdown fight
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Wall Street Journal: Ukraine’s Sea Drones Alter Balance Of Power In Black Sea
New York Times: Sweden Is Not Staying Neutral in Russia’s Information War
New York Times: Prisoner Deal Could Smooth Effort to Contain Iran’s Nuclear Program
AL Monitor: U.S., Iraq Defense Chiefs Discuss Post-Islamic State Strategy
AP: China Sends Ships And Fighter Jets Toward Taiwan In New Show Of Force
Bloomberg: Niger Junta Cuts Food And Water Supplies To Ousted Leader
AP: Judge Chutkan to hear arguments in protective order fight in Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy case
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Defense News: Romania Eyes 32 F-35s Under $6.5 Billion Deal
Defense One: Potential Competition for F-35 Cooling System Heats Up Between Honeywell and Raytheon
Air & Space Forces Magazine: USAF Needs More Money to Stop Drone Swarms
Defense One: New AI Laser System to Guard US Capital Region from Unauthorized Aircraft
Defense Scoop: Defense Department Stands Up Generative AI Task Force
Stars and Stripes: Air Force Retools Red Flag to Match Chinese Capabilities
Inside Defense: SPACECOM Still Sees Russia as Space Competitor Despite Ongoing Ukraine Conflict
Navy Times: Naval Aviation Commanders Could Receive Up To $105,000 In Bonus
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Military.com: After Website Problems, VA Extends PACT Act Deadline for Retroactive Benefit Claims
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Calendar
MONDAY | APRIL 14
10 a.m. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland — Relinquishment of office ceremony for Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday who completes his four-year tenure as CNO and retires www.dvidshub.net/webcast/32503
TUESDAY | AUGUST 15
8 a.m. 2401 M St., NW — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conversation with Bob Hale and Ellen Lord, chairman and vice chair Congressional Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform. RSVP: Thom Shanker at [email protected]
WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 30
10:30 a.m. — 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy and Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in-person and virtual event: “How much money for defense is enough?” with Michael O’Hanlon, director, Talbott Center; Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute; and Travis Sharp, senior fellow and director of defense budget studies, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments https://connect.brookings.edu/register-to-watch-how-much-money-for-defense
QUOTE OF THE DAY “When we win the war, I would publicly say to the world, ‘thank you for your help, it was enough to win,’ but until then, it was not enough and we have to do more.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with CNN Philippines.