By Alexander Ward, Matt Berg and Eric Bazail-Eimil

The Biden administration is pushing back to backlash of its deal to Bring Imprisoned Americans home from Iran. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

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With help from Nahal Toosi

The Biden administration’s deal to bring imprisoned Americans home from Iran has gained its critics and stirred a fight.

The backlash to the agreement — the release of five detained Americans in exchange for several imprisoned Iranians and access to $6 billion in frozen assets for certain humanitarian purposes — comes mainly from conservatives and some members of the Iranian-American community. They start with the argument, made by presidential candidates RON DeSANTIS and MIKE PENCE among others, that the pact is a “ransom payment.”

Opponents contend that giving the ruling clerics a financial lifeline boosts Tehran while it’s weak. KYLIE MOORE-GILBERT, a British-Australian academic held in Iran for more than 800 days, recently said the funds will “incentivize” Tehran to take more Westerners.

Critics also insist Tehran will use much of the $6 billion to conduct terrorist attacks and target U.S. troops in the region. A Trump-style “maximum pressure” campaign would be better suited to bringing Americans home, they argue.

There’s also displeasure after Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN seemed to say he was “not aware” of any other Americans or U.S. permanent residents left in Iran, even though at least two permanent residents — SHAHAB DALILI and German citizen JAMSHID SHARMAHD — remain in Iranian custody. Neither man has been deemed “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. government.

The administration is pushing back.

VEDANT PATEL, deputy State Department spokesperson, said Monday that U.S. officials have “had the opportunity to speak with the Dalili family.”

National Security Council spokesperson ADRIENNE WATSON told NatSec Daily the $6 billion “isn’t a payment of any kind. These aren’t U.S. dollars. They aren’t taxpayer dollars.” She added: “No one determined to be wrongfully detained in Iran is being ‘left behind.’”

Supporters are weighing in, too, noting U.S. sanctions on Iran have long had exemptions for humanitarian purposes and asserting Washington has worked out the details with South Korea and Qatar — the two countries involved in providing Iran access to the funds.

Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.), who represents a state that’s home to one of the released American prisoners, tweeted Saturday that the $6 billion “can only be used to buy oil and food for people in need.”

The back and forth is reminiscent of the Obama-era debate on whether to enter the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The my-Iran-policy-is-better-than-your-Iran-policy broadsides have grown more vitriolic since DONALD TRUMP’s withdrew the U.S. from that deal.

Now this agreement, which will take weeks to implement, cuts to the complexities of freeing Americans held abroad by adversarial nations. Take Russia: It took the transfer of VIKTOR BOUT, an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” to get BRITTNEY GRINER out of Russian custody, even as PAUL WHELAN was left behind. A prisoner swap could secure EVAN GERSHKOVICH’s release, but the Kremlin may prolong the process.

As multiple officials have long told NatSec Daily: there’s no magic formula for getting Americans back. Doing so often involves some combination of unsavory swap, pressure, shifting circumstances and sheer luck.

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TRYING BAZOUM: It would be “unwarranted and unjustified” if Niger’s military junta moves forward with its plan to prosecute ousted President MOHAMED BAZOUM for treason over his dealings with foreign leaders and organizations, State spokesperson Patel told reporters today.

Military authorities that have taken over the Sahel nation "gathered the necessary evidence” to prosecute Bazoum “for high treason and undermining the internal and external security of Niger," junta spokesperson Col. AMADOU ABDRAMANE said in a statement read on state television Sunday night, Reuters’ ABDEL-KADER MAZOU reports.

Such an action “will not contribute to a peaceful resolution of this crisis,” Patel said. “It is a further affront in our opinion to democracy and justice and to the respect of the rule of law, and a threat like this underscores the urgency of respecting the constitutional order in Niger.”

The latest threat against the detained president, three weeks after the coup, follows the junta’s warning that it would assassinate Bazoum if neighboring countries attempt to reinstate him via military force. So far, there’s no clear indication that military force will be used — or that the junta will relinquish its rule.

SEEING EVAN: U.S. Ambassador to Russia LYNNE TRACY visited Gershkovich in Lefortovo prison today, her third such meeting with the detained American journalist.

The Kremlin denied consular access to Gershkovich in April and May, the WSJ’s ANN SIMMONS reports, following his arrest in March on espionage allegations that his newspaper and the Biden administration deny. But Tracy has seen the 31-year-old twice before, with the last meeting occurring on July 3. Her first meeting with the reporter was three months before that.

Gershkovich awaits a trial that experts suggest will be a sham with a predetermined outcome. The strong belief in Washington is that Russia is holding out for some kind of trade, especially after President JOE BIDEN said in July that he was open to a prisoner exchange.

NEW AID PACKAGE: Secretary of State Blinken formally announced the new $200 million security assistance package for Ukraine today, which includes air defense munitions, artillery rounds, anti-armor capabilities and additional mine-clearing equipment.

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STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

MCCONNELL’S WINTER: As Senate Majority Leader MITCH McCONNELL serves the remaining years of his political career, he faces the challenge of countering DONALD TRUMP’s influence on the party — especially when it comes to foreign policy, our own JONATHAN MARTIN writes.

“This is the defining, final battle of his career, keeping the party away from this new flirtation with isolationism,” said SCOTT JENNINGS, one of McConnell’s closest advisers.

In McConnell’s eyes, that’s the most pernicious way Trump has changed the GOP, particularly at a moment when the fate of Ukraine and perhaps even NATO countries could be determined by the resolve of the Republican Party, Jonathan writes.

“I think, and this got me attacked by TUCKER CARLSON back when he was still on his show, I think the most important thing going on internationally right now is the Ukraine war,” McConnell told him.

PROTECT THE HACKERS: While our own JOHN SAKELLARIADIS and JOSEPH GEDEON were trying to protect their passwords in Vegas, some organizers at this year’s DEF CON convention were focusing on the physical safety of the security researchers hacking into election equipment.

Since Trump’s campaign to overturn the 2020 election, the researchers who scour election equipment for vulnerabilities have increasingly been targets of threats and harassment, John wrote on Sunday. As a result, the conference’s “Voting Village” hacking event used undercover security consultants, was moved to a side room where those who went in and out could be closely monitored, and had staff ready to act if agitators showed up.

The measures offer a small window into an increasingly regular feature of America’s voting security landscape. The rise in disinformation-fueled threats is forcing election administrators, poll workers and security researchers to think more deeply about physical safety, and take a host of new precautions to do their job.

ICYMI — For the first time, U.S. government lets hackers break into satellite in space by Joseph

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SUBS PACKING HEAT: A Russian industry leader said Moscow is currently equipping its new nuclear submarines with hypersonic missiles, Reuters’ LIDIA KELLY reports.

"Multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the Yasen-M project will ... be equipped with the Zircon missile system on a regular basis," ALEXEI RAKHMANOV, chief executive officer of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, told state media today.

The new nuclear-powered subs are part of Russia’s program to replace Soviet-era vessels and modernize the fleet. Ircon missiles, which can travel at several times the speed of sound, have a rage of 560 miles and are difficult to defend against.

THREE OF EIGHT: For the first time in U.S. history, interim officers are filling three of the eight seats on the Joint Chiefs of Staff thanks to Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE’s (R-Ala.) hold on military nominees, our own PAUL McLEARY and LARA SELIGMAN report.

“This is unprecedented. It is unnecessary. And it is unsafe,” Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN said at a ceremony today handing over responsibilities — in an acting capacity — to Adm. LISA FRANCHETTI, the vice chief of naval operations and Biden’s nominee to take over the job.

In the acting role, Franchetti can legally perform the duties of the top job for as long as necessary. But she can’t issue new official planning guidance to the force, as is typical for the new boss, until she is confirmed.

STEVEN STAFFORD, Tuberville’s communications director, sent out a rebuttal to Austin’s comment, saying none of what the secretary said was accurate. For example: “there is bipartisan precedent for what Coach is doing,” adding that “the only thing ‘unprecedented’ about Coach’s hold is the length of time that it has gone on: when Senator [MICHAEL] BENNET and Senator [TAMMY] DUCKWORTH held military nominations, they got what they wanted, and quickly.”

Watch: ‘Unsafe’: Austin slams military promotions blockade

CHINA BASHES TAIWAN VP TRANSITS: China’s consulate in New York is calling Taiwanese Vice President LAI CHING-TE “an out-and-out ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist,” saying in a press release that his visit to New York on Saturday was an effort “to build momentum for the Taiwan election and seek support for “Taiwan independence” from the US.” Lai, who is running for president in Taiwan, stopped in New York on the way to a presidential inauguration in Paraguay as part of a “transit.”

MORE NORTH KOREAN MISSILES: North Korean leader KIM JONG UN toured munitions production sites and ordered another sharp increase in missile production, AP’s HYUNG-JIN KIM reports. The announcement from Pyongyang, first reported by North Korean state media, comes as the U.S. and South Korea prepare for major joint military drills next week.

Biden plans to meet with the leaders of South Korea and Japan at Camp David this weekend, likely another reason why Kim is talking tough.

— Latvian Prime Minister KRISJANIS KARINS resigned from his post today, blaming coalition partners for "blocking the work for prosperity and economic growth.”

— MASHA GESSEN, The New Yorker: The Ukrainians forced to flee to Russia

— IAN REYNOLDS and OZAN AHMET CETIN, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: War is messy. AI can’t handle it.

— JOHN BOLTON, The Wall Street Journal: Blame Biden’s hesitancy for stalling Ukraine’s offensive

— Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, 10 a.m.: Human rights in Bangladesh: an update.

— Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 10:30 a.m.: Afghanistan in peril: two years after the U.S. withdrawal.

— The Heritage Foundation, 11 a.m.: China's future naval bases: new empirical data points to likely places.

— The Wilson Center’s Asia Program and Middle East Program, 11 a.m.: Assessing Taliban-Led Afghanistan, two years on.

— The McCain Institute, 12 p.m.: The American Imperative: Reclaiming Global Leadership Through Soft Power.

— The Jewish Institute for National Security of America, 3 p.m.: Possible Marines deployment to counter Iran maritime aggression.

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, with whom we’ve long had a brutal back-and-forth over the direction of this newsletter, though obviously our ideas are better than her ideas.

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, with whom we always agree.

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Information is the battlespace advantage. F-35 sensor fusion provides vast amounts of information to accelerate critical decisions and win the fight. Learn more.

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