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How Much Is an American Hostage Worth?

(New York Times) Bret Stephens - The Biden administration agreed to a deal with Iran that paves the way for five American citizens to come home after long imprisonments on spurious charges. The prize for Tehran? $6 billion - a price tag of $1.2 billion per hostage. Iran's leaders have learned that an excellent way to erode American sanctions is to take more hostages. This is a lesson not only for Iran but for other hostage-taking regimes, too, particularly Russia. The long record of negotiating with the Islamic republic shows it never pays to pay Tehran. Far from smoothing the way toward another nuclear deal with Iran, as the administration hopes, the hostage agreement means Iran will raise its price. In the meantime, other hostages are sure to be taken.
2023-08-17 00:00:00
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