Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the Biden administration for apparently buying the release of jailed Americans in Iran.
Pompeo, during an interview Sunday with radio host with John Catsimatidis, was asked about the U.S. working to bring home the jailed Americans via a deal that involves billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets being transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar.
"It's really dangerous," Pompeo said on "The Cats Roundtable" on 77 WABC. "It's dangerous for the Gulf nations, it's dangerous for … Israel."
Pompeo said paying for the Americans' release will "will build their [Iran's] economy" and encourage more hostage-taking.
"You now have a situation where we have told the Iranians, For every American you take, the Biden administration will provide you with $1 billion," Pompeo told Catsimatidis.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Friday the "deal is not done"” and negotiations between the U.S. and Iran continue.
"There would be a rigorous process of due diligence and standards applied with input from the U.S. Treasury Department," Kirby told reporters in a briefing call, The Hill reported.
The U.S.-Iran deal came together after months of indirect negotiations between the two countries.
It was announced on Thursday, when Iran moved four of the five Americans from prison to house arrest. The fifth American had already been under house arrest.
U.S. and Iranian officials say they believe the agreement could be finalized by mid- to late-September.
The cash involved represents money South Korea owed Iran for oil purchased before the Trump administration imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and will only be able to be used for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Some people in Iran have disputed the U.S. claim, saying Tehran will have total control over the funds. Qatar has not commented publicly on how it will monitor the disbursement of the money.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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