White House National Security Council (NSC) Spokesperson John Kirby bragged former President Barack Obama’s deal with Iran set the country’s nuclear program back by a few “months” during a Wednesday press briefing.
“What do you say to the criticism that this is only going to go against all these efforts to deter Iran from getting a nuclear weapon?” Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked, referring to the Biden administration’s deal with Iran which unfroze $6 billion, as well as released five Iranian prisoners in exchange for the release of five American prisoners from the Islamic regime.
“This arrangement to get these Americans home is separate and distinct from the way we are holding Iran accountable for all their destabilizing activities, to include their continued nuclear ambitions and their burgeoning and improving ballistic missile program which we have sanctioned and will continue to keep those sanctions in place. As I said, no sanction relief involved in this at all,” Kirby said. “We will continue to hold them and put them under that pressure.
“Now look, the president has said many, many times we are not going to allow Iran to ever achieve a nuclear weapons capability,” Kirby continued. “We would have preferred to deal with that through diplomacy. Unfortunately, the previous administration decided to tear up a deal that had actually set their ambitions back by many, many months. And now they have been allowed to continue to re-enrich. Nothing we can do about that. We waned to solve it through diplomacy.”
The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was completed in 2015. It offered Tehran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief if it agreed to scale back its nuclear program, according to NBC News. Former President Donald Trump left the agreement and reinstated the sanctions, freezing $6 billion in a restricted South Korea account, ABC News reported. (RELATED: Praising Saudi, Paying Iran And Visiting Alaska — It Was A Memorable 9/11 For Joe Biden)
After the Biden administration agreed to send $6 billion in assets to Iran, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran will use the funds on “wherever we need it.” While the Biden administration says the funds can only be used on humanitarian needs, Raisi says Iran has the “authority” wherever they deem appropriate.
“Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people needs, so this money will be budgeted for those needs, and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government,” Raisi said in an interview with NBC News.