Ali Vaez: ‘This is Iran's money. Iran is paying to release American citizens’

Five Americans, detained in Iran, are now under house arrest until the U.S. frees up $6 billion in Iranian non-sanctioned oil revenue that must be spent by Iran on humanitarian items. The Iran Project Director and Senior Advisor to the President at the International Crisis Group Ali Vaez, a good friend of one of the prisoners being released, Siamak Namazi, and Retired Admiral James Stavridis join Andrea Mitchell to discuss. “This is Iran's money. Iran is paying to release American citizens. No cash is flowing out of the United States. No cash is flowing into Iran,” says Vaez. “But more importantly, U.S. sanctions have humanitarian exemptions and all the administration is doing is basically, it's conforming implemented U.S. policy to existing U.S. laws.”Aug. 14, 2023