President Biden recently announced “progress” in his indirect talks with Iranian government officials over U.S. hostages. He’s agreed to an elaborate financial deal to give Iran access to between $6 billion and $7 billion held by South Korea in exchange for five Americans held in Iranian jails. This is a complicated and Iranian-disputed scheme that sounds as if it could have been arranged by ethically challenged first son Hunter Biden.

Before former president Donald Trump’s 2019 sanctions on Iran, South Korea bought Iranian oil. In response to the sanctions, South Korea froze the funds due to Iran.

President Biden has decided to allow South Korea to release the funds.

In February, Iran’s chairman of the chiefs of staff of the Iranian armed forces began expanding relations with North Korea for “global security.” North Korea and Iran have provided military assistance to Russia in its war with Ukraine. Iran and North Korea are notorious for suppressing political dissenters and violating the human rights of their citizens. Iran has declared its objective is to dissolve Israel. The Iran-Israel conflict, now in its 38th year, shows no sign of stopping. In 2022, Iran said it would bury Israel and the United States.

Despite all of this, Biden wants to normalize relations with the terror state of Iran. Since 2021, Biden’s diplomats have indirectly negotiated to re-enter a so-called nuclear deal with Iran. Biden hopes that by normalizing relations with Iran, the mullahs and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard will cast aside their nuclear ambitions and hatred of the United States and Israel to become a reliable partner and a peaceful nation. The recent discovery of cocaine in the White House could be the basis for Biden’s hopes of a peaceful Iran. Those in a non-cocaine state of mind might reasonably think that a peaceful Iran under its current leadership is a pipe dream.

Reportedly, South Korea has begun to release funds to Iran in a Bidenesque way. South Korea will release the money to Qatar, a mediator in the indirect talks between the United States, Iran and South Korea. According to the Biden agreement, Qatar will hold Iran’s money in what is described as “restricted accounts” solely for medicine and food. Presumably, this medicine and food will be intended for Iranians and not as an aid to Russia.

Iran’s mullahs have a different understanding of their deal with Biden and their financial accounts in Qatar. Iran officials publicly claim to have control over the money. Iran says it will use the money as it pleases. This could mean that Iran intends to use the funds to aid Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, continue its aggression against Israel, and continue killing and jailing government dissidents.

Despite Iran’s claim, Biden is going ahead with the negotiations.

In the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden represented himself as an expert on international affairs. He reminded voters that he served 50 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He reminded voters that he was Barack Obama’s vice president for eight years. In her memoir “Tough Love,” Susan Rice, the national security adviser to President Obama, wrote: “At President Obama’s behest, Vice President Biden took on responsibility for the dialogue with Ukraine’s leaders, investing large amounts of time in direct diplomacy.”

In 2023, Biden is still “investing large amounts of time” and more U.S. money in Ukraine. At the same time he announced his controversial scheme for releasing $6 billion to $7 billion to Iran’s terror regime, Biden told Congress that Ukraine needs an additional $20 billion to fight Russia’s aggression.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden and Congress have sent Kyiv a staggering amount of money. If Congress agrees to Biden’s demand for an additional $20 billion, total U.S. aid — military, financial and humanitarian — could approach $100 billion. Congress has rightfully questioned how Ukraine is using the money. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently fired several military officials for corruption. Congress should demand answers from Biden on the extent of Ukrainian corruption before making another investment in Ukraine’s democracy.

Biden has Americans asking if it is wise for our “expert diplomat” (Biden) to send terror state Iran $6 billion to $7 billion and corrupt state Ukraine an additional $20 billion. Is this the diplomatic leadership that America and its allies expected of Biden? What is Biden doing to find peaceful solutions to the Iran-Israel and Ukraine-Russia conflicts? Where is the diplomacy?

James Patterson is a writer in Washington and a life member of the American Foreign Service Association. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

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