Iran

Republicans Allegedly Tried to Scuttle the Iran-U.S. Prisoner Swap

Written by SK Ashby

The delicate and carefully planned prisoner swap that led to the release of several American prisons including a Washington Post reporter almost didn't happen thanks to Congressional Republicans.

While we may not be able to verify the veracity of his words, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says Republicans in Congress asked Iran not to release the American prisoners and delay talks until after the election.

According to the semi-official Iranian news outlet, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made the claims during a speech Thursday at a rally in Yazd, Iran.

"In the course of the talks for exchanging prisoners, the Republican rivals of the current US administration who claim to be humanitarians and advocates of human rights sent a message telling us not to release these people [American prisoners] and continue this process [of talks] until the eve of US presidential elections,” Shamkhani said, according to Tasnim.

If this is true, I would say Congressional Republicans are guilty of nothing less than selling out American citizens held captive abroad.

I don't find this very hard to believe because, as I'm sure you recall, 50 members of Congress signed a letter addressed to Iran warning them not to agree to the nuclear peace deal. That is on the official record. I believe they would do anything to complicate or obstruct President Obama's decisions. They would sell their own mothers.