On Tuesday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) discussed waiving energy sanctions for Iran and unfreezing funds and said that “In order to get Iran to sign that agreement for no more nuclear weapon development, no future enrichment, we had to give something.” And “I hope that they use it to buy beef from Kansas, but time will tell. Again, I think there has to be some trust in the process right now. Right now, the money we’re releasing, the sanction money, will be used for humanitarian purposes.”
Co-host Kailey Leinz asked, “Iran is already getting financial relief now, Senator. We saw the waiver of sanctions for its energy products, which it’s now free to sell on the global market. Iran says $12 billion in frozen funds are going to be unfrozen. The president maintains that those unfrozen funds will be used to buy U.S. agricultural products and Iran says they can use it however they want. Should any money be unfrozen if we can’t guarantee how Iran will use it?”
Marshall answered, “Look, I think that this is the first step. In order to get Iran to sign that agreement for no more nuclear weapon development, no future enrichment, we had to give something. I would gladly give 5 billion, $12 billion of their own money, again, this is not American money. This is not Obama sending over $1.7 billion. Yes, I hope that they use it to buy beef from Kansas, but time will tell. Again, I think there has to be some trust in the process right now. Right now, the money we’re releasing, the sanction money, will be used for humanitarian purposes. Our farmers bore a large brunt of the situation there in Iran with high diesel prices and high fertilizer prices. So, again, I remain hopeful.”
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