Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claims he has reached a “good understanding” with Qatar for access to the $6 billion windfall of cash paid by President Joe Biden after a prisoner exchange deal with the United States in September 2023.
Biden administration officials continue to insist Iran will have only limited access to the funds.
“In Qatar, we have $6 billion in assets. The issue was discussed during a meeting between the governors of the two countries’ central banks, as well as the meeting with the Qatari Emir. We reached a good understanding in this regard,” Pezeshkian said after returning to Tehran on Thursday from a two-day trip to Qatar.
The Iranian president was referring to $6 billion in Iranian assets that were frozen in South Korean banks until September 2023, when the Biden administration issued a sanctions waiver allowing the funds to be transferred to Qatar’s central bank.
The Biden administration was strongly criticized for paying such a gigantic ransom for just five prisoners released by the Iranians, who also received five prisoners of their own in addition to Biden’s cash windfall.
The administration insisted the payment was not really a “ransom” and claimed Tehran would only be able to use the money for purchasing “humanitarian goods.”
Critics responded that money is fungible, so even if the Biden Administration kept its promise to limit Iranian access to the funds, giving Iran $6 billion to spend on food and medicine would free up $6 billion for more malign investments, such as arms and financial support for Tehran’s network of terrorist proxies.
Criticism over the $6 billion payout grew so intense that Tehran felt it necessary to insist in October 2023 that Biden’s ransom could not be taken back and the U.S. would not long be able to prevent Iran from accessing the funds for any purpose it desires.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed around the same time that Iran has somehow always had access to the “frozen” funds for humanitarian purposes, but was merely unable to use them due to “technical reasons” cleared up by the Biden hostage deal.
CBS News in October 2023 reported that a “quiet understanding” between the Biden administration and Qatar was reached to prevent Iran from accessing its $6 billion windfall in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians on October 7.
Pezeshkian said another “good understanding” was reached between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) oil states about “resolving any problems between us, or the disputes that existed” pertaining to the war in Gaza and Lebanon. He reportedly met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and with a delegation from the Hamas terrorist organization, during his trip to Qatar.
Pezeshkian said Iran and other Middle Eastern powers would soon “reach a point where we have a common language and vision with neighboring countries and can lead the world with one voice” to “make Israel stop its crimes and massacres.”
