Trevor Reed, Marine Vet Held Captive By Russia, Shuts Down Critics of Iran Hostage Deal: ‘This Was a Win’

Jamie FreveleSep 19th, 2023, 3:56 pm
 
FILE - Joey and Paula Reed pose for a photo with a portrait of their son, Marine veteran and Russian prisoner Trevor Reed, at their home in Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 15, 2022. Negotiations between the U.S. and Russia led to basketball star Brittney Griner's return to the U.S. on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022, in exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout. It is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner swaps involving Americans detained abroad, one of whom was Reed, an American imprisoned in Russia for nearly three years. He was swapped for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who had been serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

AP Photo/LM Otero, File

Trevor Reed, who was unlawfully detained in Russia in 2019 and released in 2022, had supportive words for President Joe Biden and his administration following the release of five American prisoners who had been imprisoned in Iran.

Biden has been criticized for the seemingly uneven trade, which saw five Iranians released in exchange as well as $6 billion of frozen funds. While it has been explained repeatedly that the funds already belonged to Iran and were not ransom provided by American taxpayers, plus the stipulation that the funds be spent on humanitarian efforts and that spending would be monitored, critics still said it would mean open season on Americans traveling abroad in the future.

Reed knows a few things about this situation, however, and offered up a more seasoned explanation on social media, concluding that the trade was a “win for the US and democracy, and I’m glad we have leaders with the courage to do what is right when they know they will face criticism.” You can read his full statement posted on Twitter/X here:

Reed had previously criticized the Biden administration for its handling of WNBA player Brittney Griner’s and Paul Whelan’s releases from Russian prisons, saying that they were “not doing enough” to get them out of captivity. He later said he was “cautiously optimistic” that Biden would have a solution.

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