Secretary of State John Kerry admitted in a nationally televised interview that Iran may very well use the money from its lifted sanctions to engage in some sort of "nefarious activity," but added: America shouldn't worry because those activities aren't the kind being objected to by the United States.
To Christine Amanpour on CNN International's Amanpour, Kerry said the Iran deal pushed by President Obama is still a good thing for the international community, despite the chance of Tehran to use some of the sanctions relief for criminal activity.
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"I keep hearing people talk about hundreds of billions of dollars that will be released," he said, Breitbart reported. "That is not what will happen. The money that has been held back in escrow is money actually that belongs to Iran, but it has not been delivered to Iran under the sanctions regime."
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Kerry then explained the amount is between $50 billion and $55 billion, not the $150 billion being reported elsewhere.
He also said a good portion of that money is already targeted for debt paydown with China and other sources, and for the nation to get back on track with its oil production.
"For Iran to bring its oil industry back to where it was just five years ago, they would have to invest several hundred billion dollars," Kerry said.
But he also admitted the United States wouldn't be able to put a complete halt to Iran's criminal activities.
"It is probably fair to say something may find its way to some bad or nefarious activity," he said, "but the activities that we have objected to that Iran has engaged in are not fueled primarily by money."