Info on a few of Iranians being released: http://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...t-iran-fm-says-nuclear-deal-to-be-implemented
^^^ I believe those 3 were convicted last May 2015. Would it surprise anyone that the US government prosecutes them for the sole purpose of using them as pawn later for this exchange.
How am I not surprised that GOP contenders and others here complain about the release of US citizens held by Iran after they had been bringing up against the Obama Admin. previously. I will give Rand Paul credit though as at least he isn't caught up in partisanship to see that good things can come from negotiation. Once again it seems like most don't understand that generally in negotiation you have to give something to get something. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...son-rezaian-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz Trump condemns terms of Iran prisoner swap as Republicans join in criticism Businessman suggests deal is unfair while Marco Rubio and Chris Christie attack prisoner exchanges under Barack Obama Republican presidential candidates scrambled to react to a prisoner swap between the US and Iran on Saturday morning, expressing both celebration and scorn on the day sanctions relief begins for the Middle East nation. In New Hampshire, frontrunner Donald Trump questioned what the US gained from the deal, in which four American-Iranian dual-nationals were released and seven Iranians held on sanctions violations were released or pardoned. “They’re getting seven people, so essentially they get $150bn plus seven, and we get four,” the billionaire said. “I’m happy they’re coming back, but I will tell you it’s a disgrace they’ve been there so long,” he continued. Senator Rand Paul, who opposed the deal in Congress, took a measured tone in an interview with the Guardian, calling the release “a hopeful sign about the agreement” and “a sign that we need to continue to try to see if negotiations will work”. A US official confirmed to the Guardian that Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, pastor Saeed Abedini, Nosratollah Khosrawi-Roodsari and marine veteran Amir Hekmati were released. In exchange, the US offered clemency to seven Iranians facing trial or convictions, the official said. A US official told Reuters Iran released a fifth captive, student Matthew Trevithick, separately. Paul called Abedini, who has been held since September 2012, “an incredibly brave man to believe so strongly in Christianity, willing to risk imprisonment for it”. Texas senator Ted Cruz also celebrated the release of Abedini on Twitter, saying: “Praise God! Surely bad parts of Obama’s latest deal, but prayers of thanksgiving that Pastor Saeed is coming home.” The releases coincide with the lifting of economic sanctions and the unfreezing of some $100bn in assets under the terms of the nuclear deal negotiated between Iran and several nations, including the US, in July 2015. The deal passed its final hurdles in the US Congress in September despite steady Republican opposition. In exchange for Iran dismantling much of its nuclear infrastructure, the agreement lifts crippling economic sanctions on the oil-rich nation. Senator Marco Rubio, answering questions after a town hall event in Iowa on Saturday, said so-called prisoner “swaps” had “created an incentive” for governments around the world to take hostages. “Governments are taking Americans hostage because they believe they can gain concessions from this government under Barack Obama,” Rubio said. New Jersey governor Chris Christie, also in Iowa, echoed Rubio’s concerns. “We shouldn’t have to swap prisoners,” he said. “These folks were taken illegally in violation of international law and they should have been released without condition. But you know, the Iranians have treated this president with disrespect for years and he continues to take it.” “Remember the last time we had Iranian hostages,” Christie added in a statement, referring to the 1979 hostage crisis. “As soon as Ronald Reagan took the oath of office those Iranians returned our citizens immediately because they knew if they didn’t they would have to face the strength of character and the wrath of Ronald Reagan.” Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said he was “very pleased” by the release and “overjoyed for the families and friends” of the former prisoners. Carson did not comment on the prisoner deal, but did condemn the “disastrous” agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. “The fact remains that President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran is fatally flawed and gravely jeopardizes the national security interests of the American people,” he said in a statement. Rezaian, who had been serving as the Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post, was taken into custody by Iranian officials in July 2014. In October 2015, an Iranian court convicted him of several crimes, including espionage and “propaganda against the establishment”, in a closed-door proceeding widely criticised by the US government and press freedom organizations. Rezaian, born in California, is a dual citizen of the US and Iran, although Iran does not recognize dual nationality for its citizens and treated Rezaian as an Iranian. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who is hovering near the bottom of the polls, released a statement that asked why it took the US so long to secure the prisoners’ release. He also compared sanctions relief for Iran to “writing a $150bn check to Adolf Hitler before WWII hoping he’ll behave”. Huckabee added praise for Abedini: “Well done Saeed! You are a faithful servant! And welcome home!” Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders also addressed the release in a statement, saying: “This good news shows that diplomacy can work even in this volatile region of the world.”
Obviously, not as well as it did with Reagan, when you could kidnap, torture and kill hostages and get a whole mess of antitank and antiaircraft missiles out of it. I can imagine the emotional Rollercoaster you and your right wing Bros must have been on on Wednesday. Pure elation when this Navy patrol guys got detained, a million tweets denouncing lack of feck were readied, then pure dejection when instead of being beheaded on film, John Kerry made a few calls and they were released within hours. Sorry for your loss.
Don't worry bigtexxx, Hilary is on it. Clinton calls for new sanctions on Iran http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/266173-clinton-calls-for-new-sanctions-on-iran So unless we collectively feel the Bern, both the incoming Dem or GOP president will reimpose sanctions. Of course, sanctions never prevented the North Koreans from building a bomb.
hostage taking pays well <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Two of the Iranians pardoned by Obama run the airline most favored for smuggling by the IRGC Quds Force <a href="https://t.co/zIiEzTAyxY" title="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-17/prisoner-swap-may-help-iran-arm-assad">bloombergview.com/articles/2016-…</a></p>— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) <a href="https://twitter.com/joshrogin/status/688888101196832768" data-datetime="2016-01-18T00:58:16+00:00">January 18, 2016</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The pure, unaltered, visionless negativity of the right in this country will be either its undoing or the entire nation's undoing. Try one, single, proactive, positive policy position of any kind. If they actually had someone elected president, it would be funny to watch now actually. "Well, what did Obama used to like? Can I give another speech about how much I hate what he used to do? What do you mean I need to do something?"
Which is hilarious given that most speeches given by this current president for the first 6 years of his presidency included some kind of complaint about the previous administration....of course you don't have a problem with that because partisanship.
Welcome home, Jason, Amir, Saeed and others. Thanks for the hard work, President Obama and Secretary Kerry. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/18/u...n-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1
WTF! <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Footage --released by Fars-- of Iranian drone flying over US carrier. US says, it was "abnormal and unprofessional." <a href="https://t.co/pIsQSfNZ97">pic.twitter.com/pIsQSfNZ97</a></p>— varujean avanessian (@pandagulu) <a href="https://twitter.com/pandagulu/status/693133010787397633">January 29, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Actually, I thought most of those digs at the previous administration should have ended after a couple of years. But we also might disagree what a dig is. If he references a "previous administration" in a speech after 2010, yeah, I think he should can it already. But if he says something like, "we inherited X% unemployment and declining jobs," well that is a historical fact and not necessarily a dig. If he feels some pride in improving conditions, well so be it. That's not a dig. A lot of the financial mess is due to Bill Clinton's actions anyway, so maybe it should be considered a pre-Bush dig. Anyway, because thinking nonpartisanship.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian voters dealt hard-liners a serious blow in elections for parliament and an influential clerical body, favoring reformists and relative moderates who support last year's nuclear deal in the country's first elections since the landmark agreement, results released Monday showed.
This is one thing I will be watching. I agree with this, as long as it's an honest effort and not an excuse to sabotage the deal. Whether or not Iran obtain a nuclear bomb is now on Trump's watch. The last administrator that failed (Bush in regard to NK) is a reminder that if and once Iran get a bomb, there is no turning back. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-11-11/making-the-iran-nuclear-deal-great-again
