Fox News’ Bret Baier sparred with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby over President Joe Biden’s $6 billion deal with Iran being involved in Hamas’ attack in Israel.
The Biden administration reached a deal to transfer $6 billion in previously frozen Iranian assets and release several Iranian nationals in exchange for the release of five Americans held hostage in the Middle Eastern country. White House officials acknowledge that Iran funds Hamas, the Islamic terrorist organization waging war on Israel and that the deal can be frozen at any time.
“Why isn’t this the time to freeze that?” Baier asked.
“I don’t have any policy decisions in respect to that to speak to today, Bret,” Kirby replied. “But I think it’s important for people to remember that not a single dinar of those funds has gone into Iran. Not one, not any. Nothing has been allocated out of that fund and we’re gonna watch this—”
“Yeah, John, you also said that money’s fungible, $6 billion over here for humanitarian and food so you can move money someplace else, and then you have the not enforcing sanctions, which allows Iran to cash in on its oil around the world,” Baier pushed back.
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“Bret, with all due respect, I just gotta push back on you there. It’s not that we’re not enforcing sanctions because we have been enforcing them. As a matter of fact, we’ve added sanctions,” Kirby said. “We’ve sanctioned four hundred entities in Iran just at the beginning of this administration, let alone the sanctions that came before us. For the fungibility, again, that money was never going to be by the Iranian regime, they were never gonna see it themselves. It was always gonna go to vendors that we approved to go buy humanitarian assistance and food to get directly to the Iranian people.”
“John,” Baier said in an attempt to push back.
“The regime was never gonna see that and they haven’t asked for it. And the other thing I want to say, Bret, right before we get off this topic, is it wasn’t—” Kirby continued. (RELATED: Martha MacCallum Confronts John Kirby Over Biden Admin Calling Early Lid On War In Israel)
Baier then interrupted to point to Iran containing several billions of dollars from exporting oil to China, leading him to question whether the deal allowed the country to use those extra billions to fund Hamas. Kirby argued Iran would not have had enough money to fund Hamas even after the deal was set.
“It’s not like the Iranians were going to be able to get all $6 billion or even a billion at a time. The idea is it would be reallocated in very small chunks. So the idea that even if they had started withdrawing that fund, it’d be able to fund Hamas is not true,” Kirby said.
“Okay, let’s leave the $6 billion alone. Let’s put that aside, let’s just say that’s fine, $6 billion’s not moving. There’s billions and billions of other dollars and is there a look now at Iran policy because of what’s being funneled to Hamas?” Baier asked.
Kirby said “there has always been” a review of Iran policy and to look for ways to hold the country accountable for “destabilizing duties.”
The Biden administration has defended its $6 billion deal to Iran, despite that money allowing Iran to allocate already unrestricted funds to sponsor terrorism. Iran reportedly helped Hamas plan the attack on Israel weeks in advance, and gave the terrorist organization the green light to launch its attack the week before.