Republicans pressed the Biden administration to reverse its decision to free up $6 billion in funds for Iran, an issue quickly becoming a rallying cry for the GOP in the aftermath of the bloody Hamas attack on Israel.
A letter released Tuesday signed by 20 Republican senators urged the State Department to rescind the sanctions waivers allowing Iranian funds to be converted to euros and transferred to bank accounts in Qatar, part of a prisoner-swap deal struck last month between Washington and Tehran.
Iran has a long history of economic and military support of the Palestinian militant group and has praised Saturday’s attacks, but it has also denied it participated in or knew in advance of Saturday’s deadly uprising which has now claimed at least 1,000 Israeli lives.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, urged the administration to shift the money — funds from Iranian oil sales that had been held in overseas banks because of U.S. sanctions — to Israel.
“Take the $6 billion from Biden’s ransom deal with Iran and give it to Israel to eradicate Hamas,” she said in a Tuesday tweet.
Administration officials have insisted that the funds are still on ice in Qatar and were not used to fund the Hamas attacks, but Senate Republicans said the accounts designated for humanitarian aid allow Iran to “reallocate even more funds to supporting terrorism.”
“To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless Israelis is unconscionable,” said the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Your administration claims these funds are only available for humanitarian use, but money is fungible, and there is a significant risk they could be used to further efforts by Iran or Hamas against Israel.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, said that the promise of $6 billion “emboldened” Iran, a longtime supporter of Hamas, controls the Palestinian territory in the Gaza Strip and is considered by the U.S. and Israel to be a terrorist organization.
“This attack didn’t happen overnight, ” Mrs. Blackburn said in a video clip. “This is something that had been in the planning for quite a period of time. What we have heard is that the release of the $6 billion is something that emboldened Iran to move forward and take this action.”
Iran is backing Hamas’ attacks on Israel.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 10, 2023
This is the New Axis of Evil at work to destroy the U.S. and our allies.
Biden must freeze the $6 billion transfer immediately.https://t.co/yStVmUqP4Z
The letter cited a report in the Wall Street Journal saying that officers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps helped plot the attack, citing senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, although Mr. Blinken said that the administration has not seen evidence of Iran’s direct involvement.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also called for the Biden administration to refreeze the $6 billion, telling reporters Monday that “handing over $6 billion to Iran only helps the cause.”
Mr. Blinken has stressed that “no U.S. taxpayer dollars were involved” in the attack.
“These were Iranian resources that Iran had accumulated from the sale of its oil that were stuck in a bank in South Korea. They have had from day one, under our law, under our sanctions, the right to use these monies for humanitarian purposes,” Mr. Blinken said Sunday on CNN.
He added that “not a single dollar has been spent from that account.”
“And again, the account is closely regulated by the U.S. Treasury Department, so it can only be used for things like food, medicine, medical equipment,” he said. “That’s what this is about.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.