Nikki Haley criticises Blinken for saying no link between Israel attack, release of USD 6bn to Iran

Nikki Haley has slammed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, labelling his comments as "irresponsible"

Washington, DC: Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has slammed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, labelling his comments as “irresponsible.”

This follows Blinken’s statement asserting there was no connection between the recent Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the release of USD 6 billion in frozen funds to Iran as part of a prisoner swap deal, Fox News reported.

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Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former US ambassador to the United Nations shared her views during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” She responded to Blinken’s earlier remarks, where he suggested that the USD 6 billion could not have contributed to terrorism and mentioned that the US had not seen evidence of Iran’s support for the attack.

Haley criticised Blinken’s statement, saying, “I actually think it was irresponsible for Secretary Blinken to say that the USD 6 billion doesn’t weigh in here. I mean, let’s be honest with the American people and understand that Hamas knows and Iran knows they’re moving money around as we speak because they know USD 6 billion is going to be released. That’s the reality,” according to Fox News, an American multinational news and political website.

Blinken had previously responded to Republican criticisms of the deal made by Joe Biden’s administration with Iran, which involved unfreezing USD 6 billion in funds in exchange for five US prisoners held in Iran. Blinken emphasised that the funds from that account could only be used for specific purposes like medical supplies, food, and medicine.

“It’s very unfortunate that some are playing politics at a time when so many lives have been lost and Israel remains under attack,” Blinken said.

Haley argued that it was naive to assume the funds couldn’t be repurposed for other uses. She said, “To think that they’re not moving money around is irresponsible. They hate Israel. They hate America. They are going to continue to use this. It was wrong to release the USD 6 billion.” The recent Hamas attacks have resulted in the deaths of at least 600 Israelis and the injury of over 2,000 others, as Israel and Hamas fighters continue to engage in conflict, as reported by Fox News.

Haley also criticised the Biden administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly citing the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the waiver of sanctions on Iran, which provided Iran with additional funds. She asserted that when Iran receives money, they utilise it for hostile purposes.

“It was wrong to go and have that debacle in Afghanistan,” she continued. “It was wrong to waive sanctions on Iran that gave them even more money. Money has been flowing to Iran, and that is the problem because when Iran gets money, they use it for hate,” Haley said, Fox News reported.