The deal for the United States to free seven Iranians and stop pursuit of 14 others in exchange for five American civilians was not a good deal from the U.S. point of view, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul tells
Newsmax TV.
"First, you're talking about exchanging hostages taken by Iran and Americans in exchange for criminals and potential terrorists," McCaul said Monday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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Though the seven freed Iranians were convicted of violating sanctions and not of terrorism, McCaul said the 14 still at large may have been involved in the Buenos Aires plot to bomb a Jewish center in Argentina seven years ago.
"Hardly a fair swap in my book," he said, "And then you look at the $1.3 billion given to them that was part of apparently a military contract we have prior to the Revolution. Not to mention the $150 billion in sanctions being lifted that, as the chairman of Homeland Security, I know go directly into funding terrorist acts."
Iran has a heavy presence in Latin America, McCaul said, and he is concerned when he sees money pumped into its economy. It could be going into their terror arm, the Iranian Quds Force, which has killed hundreds of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan and plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, he said.
"I've looked at their presence in Latin America as well and these flights that go between Tehran and Caracas, and this just stabilizes the ayatollah even more so, it destabilizes the Middle East and it infiltrates the western hemisphere from a terrorist threat," McCaul said.
McCaul's latest book,
"Failures of Imagination: The Deadliest Threats to Our Homeland—and How to Thwart Them," discusses potential terror concerns, including the release of smallpox at a Disney theme park or attacks on large venues such as the Mall of America or the Oscar awards.
"I only had eight chapters. I could've written probably 200," he said. "Obviously ISIS is the biggest threat to the homeland right now."
The book attempts to counter the White House's downplaying the Islamic State as a "JV team," he said.
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