During a recent press conference, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby went back and forth with Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy over the Biden administration’s action to unfreeze billions of dollars for Iran.
Doocy introduced the topic, asking, “Now that we know that the Iranians do not listen to President Biden’s public warnings. Is there any regret here about unfreezing billions of dollars for Iranian leaders during the President’s administration?” The White House correspondent was presumably referring to Biden’s one-word warning to Iran, instructing them to “don’t” attack Israel.
“What unfreezing are you talking about?” Kirby asked Doocy to clarify. “He unfroze billions of dollars in..” Doocy responded before being cut off by the Biden officials. “For Iranian leaders? Really? I don’t think so,” Kirby stated in skepticism.
However, Doocy did not back down from his question. “Well, doesn’t that free up money for them to spend on other stuff? But where do you get the money for an unprecedented number of munitions to fire at Israel?” he asked again, undeterred.
Kirby offered a more extended rebuttal, claiming that he believes the Iranian government is taking the Biden administration “seriously” on the assertion that the U.S. will defend Israel. He continues explaining that the unfrozen funds were in an actively monitored account that was being closely watched to ensure they are not misallocated for nefarious purposes.
“So first of all, I’m betting. They’re sitting in Tehran, they’re taking it seriously when President Biden says he’s going to defend Israel. We put skin in the game, a whole heck of a lot of it. And knocked almost everything out of the sky. So I’m betting they’re taking it pretty seriously. And as for this, this unfreezing that none of that fund, none of those funds, funds set up in an account, by the way by the previous administration, goes directly to the Supreme Leader, the IRGC can only be used for humanitarian purposes. And we’re watching that account very, very closely to make sure that that’s what happens,” Kirby responded.
However, conservatives have remained skeptical of this claim, asserting that the tens of billions in funding could easily fall into the wrong hands. For example, RNC Research commented on the dialogue with a seeming fact check on Kirby’s comments. The account’s captions reads, “FACT: Biden enriched the Iranian regime with tens of billions of dollars through sanctions waivers and non-enforcement.” Watch the tense clip from the press conference below:
Following the deadly October 7 attack on Israel, Republicans heavily criticized the unfreezing of the billions in funding. However, at the time, the Biden administration noted that the money had not been spent and is only authorized for humanitarian purposes.
“Just weeks ago, the Biden administration handed over $6 billion to Iran, and today, innocent Israelis were murdered by Iran-backed terrorists,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn stated. “We must continue to support our strongest ally in the Middle East and their right to defend themselves against these unprovoked, horrific attacks.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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