(TheRedWire.com) – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blasted President Joe Biden over the recent deal with Iran, which allowed five wrongfully imprisoned Americans to be released in exchange for $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds.
During an interview on CNN’s “The Source” with Kaitlan Collins on Monday, Christie argued that he would not have agreed to that deal. He added that as much as he would have wanted those Americans to return to the country, he would not be giving a terrorist state access to $6 billion.
In exchange for the five Americans, the Biden administration agreed to release five Iranians who were in U.S. custody and also provided a waiver that allowed international banks to transfer from South Korea to a Qatari bank close to $6 billion in Iranian oil sale proceeds. According to the Associated Press, the released funds were the money that South Korea had owed Iran before the imposition of sanctions on oil transactions by the United States in 2019.
The United States has noted that the funds would still be kept in a restricted account, and they would only be allowed to be used for humanitarian supplies, including medicine and food. These transactions are still permitted under the U.S. sanctions seeking to block the Iranian nuclear program.
Christie claimed that Iran is “one of the most barbaric regimes in the world” and mocked the idea that the funds would only be used for humanitarian efforts.
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