Former President Donald Trump told Newsmax on Monday that his policies neutralized Iran as a threat in the Middle East, but it has become a "real force" under the Biden administration.
"We were respected three years ago, very respected," Trump said in an exclusive interview with "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "We did things that nobody thought were possible. We had peace in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords. We signed four [Arab countries to the accord], we would have had another, I think almost everybody, maybe even Iran as crazy as that sounds.
"Iran was broke. I wouldn't let people buy. … They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for Hezbollah. They had no money for anybody. They had to stay afloat. And then [Joe] Biden came in and he gave up on sanctions, gave up on everything, and now they have $200 billion cash.
"I'm not even talking about the $6 billion they gave for five [American] hostages, which is unbelievable, or the $10 billion they gave for electricity for Iraq. We give them $10 billion. Now, they're very rich."
Trump said before the U.S. invaded Iraq to oust dictator Saddam Hussein after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Iraq and Iran were at war against each other, which limited the scope of Iran's reach in the Middle East. But he said Iran now is able to use Iraq as its proxy.
"They're also rich because Iraq is a subsidiary of Iran," Trump said. "Stupidly, we went in many years ago, and we bombed the hell out of Iraq. For years, you had two nations — for centuries with different names — fighting, fighting, fighting. They were the same. They fought, they went 10 feet, 10 feet, 10 feet, then they rested, 10 feet, 10 [feet].
"But we knocked out one of those forces, and now Iran has the whole thing to themselves, and they've essentially taken over Iraq. Iraq has $300 billion. So, they have $200 billion quickly made under Biden and they have $300 billion in Iraq. This is a fact. This is a force now. This is a real force."
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