"On September 11, President Joe Biden released $6 billion in frozen funds to Iran. The move, which was highly criticized, was to secure a prisoner swap deal in which five Iranians imprisoned in the US were handed over to the Islamic Republic in exchange for five American citizens who had been jailed.
At the time, Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the unfrozen money would "be available only for humanitarian trade." Yet, during an interview on Sunday with NBC News Blinken defended the move but conceded that the Islamic Republic has "always" put money towards funding terroristic operations.
Blinken stated, "Iran has unfortunately always used and focused its funds on supporting terrorism, on supporting groups like Hamas. And it’s done that when there have been sanctions, it’s done that when there haven’t been sanctions, and it’s always prioritized that."
In 2021 Biden "restored" $235 million in aid to the Palestinians despite concerns that the money would fund terrorism. At the time Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, "I am deeply troubled by recent decisions from the Biden Administration to turn a blind eye to behavior by the Palestinian Authority."
He added, "In 2019, the Palestinian Authority provided $343 million to subsidize ‘Pay to Slay’ attacks where terrorists and their families receive cash rewards for attacking Israelis and Americans." Graham alleged the Biden administration was "subsidizing terrorism."
Blinken's latest comments come on the heels of the news that emails revealed Biden’s Iran envoy Robert Malley helped to fund and direct an Iranian intelligence operation designed to influence the US and allied governments.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the now-suspended Biden official helped Iranian agent Ariane Tabatabai infiltrate some of the most sensitive positions in the State Department and the Pentagon."
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