US-Iran prisoner swap deal attracts criticism

Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on a blanket waiver last week that put the final stages of the deal in motion. The waiver allows for US$6 billion of frozen Iranian funds in South Korea to move to a bank in Qatar.

In return, Iran will release five US prisoners who have already been moved to house arrest in Tehran. The US is also releasing five Iranian prisoners as part of the deal.

The Biden administration has stressed that the unfrozen funds will only be used for humanitarian reasons and that Qatar will monitor the money.

But Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran will spend the released funds wherever we need it.

"This money belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money,” he told NBC News.

Since the prisoners in Iran were moved to house arrest last month, Republicans have raised numerous concerns about the deal.

Senator Tom Cotton said the US was paying ransom to the world's state sponsor of terrorism, calling it shameful.

On Truth Social, former President Trump called Biden a fool and said the unfrozen funds will be used for terrorism all over the Middle East, and, indeed, the World.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez also expressed concerns about encouraging adversarial nations to take more hostages in the future.

Adrienne Watson, a White House National Security council spokesperson, said the administration is working to release wrongfully held Americans and the deal remains a sensitive and ongoing process.