It’s now official: The Biden administration has concluded a hostage-exchange deal with Iran in which the U.S. will get back five Americans and Iran will receive five Iranian or Iranian-American citizens held in the U.S.—assuming all these detainees want to leave jail for the Islamic Republic. Most crucially, the clerical regime also gets access to $6 billion in hard currency held in South Korean banks, which will be transferred to Qatar.
Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Iranian-targets officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
