US secures freedom for seven people in prisoner swap with Iran

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : Weeks after securing Frerichs's freedom, the administration secured the release of seven Americans from Venezuela, including five oil executives, in exchange for two relatives of President Nicolas Maduro jailed in the U.S. on drug convictions.
51% : Additionally, the U.S. has approved the movement of $6 billion of frozen Iranian money held in South Korea to a restricted account in Doha, where Tehran will be available to request money for "a very limited category of humanitarian transactions," a senior administration official told reporters on Sunday evening.
45% : The Biden administration secured the release of seven Americans imprisoned in Iran on Monday in exchange for President Joe Biden granting clemency to five Iranians held in the United States and unfreezing $6 billion of Iran's money.
45% : Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said on Facebook, "The U.S. should be unrelenting in its efforts to bring detained Americans home, but Iran will now count pallets of ransom money, putting its leaders in a better position to develop a nuclear weapon and fund terrorists.
35% : This deal, known for weeks, secured the release of every American the administration has classified as wrongfully detained by Iran, a legal designation determined by the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.
35% : However, this agreement will entice rogue regimes, like Iran, to take even more Americans hostage.
31% : Kambiz Attar Kashani was sentenced to 30 months in prison in February after conspiring to export U.S. goods and technology to Iran illegally.
31% : The three others Biden granted clemency to are Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, who was charged in 2021 with allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent on Iran's behalf while lobbying U.S. officials on matters such as nuclear policy; Amin Hasanzadeh, who was charged in 2019 with allegedly stealing engineering plans from his employer to send to Iran; and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, who was charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
22% : The initial reporting of Biden's deal incurred some criticism on Capitol Hill, mainly from Republicans, who argued the agreement would only encourage the taking of more Americans by Iran and other regimes.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON

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