A group of 26 US Republican senators sent a letter to President Joe Biden Friday demanding answers on its controversial money for hostages deal with Iran.
US Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Tim Scott (R-R-SC), Tom Cotton (R-Ark) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) were among the signatories of the letter to the White House.
Earlier this month It was announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran released five US dual nationals held in prison on trumped-up charges have been released into house arrest pending Iran receiving around $6 billion of its frozen funds in South Korea. The White House has to waive its sanctions to allow Seoul to free up the money.
Immediately, lawmakers, former officials and many Iranian Americans began to voice strong criticism of the White House decision, that would provide a financial relief to the Iranian regime while it engages in systematic human rights violations and destabilizing activities against other countries.
The 26 senators wrote to President Biden that a $400 million cash payment by the Obama administration in 2016 to free hostages held by Iran set a dangerous precedent of more hostage-taking, and “Seven years later, the current administration is providing a ransom payment worth at least fifteen times that amount to the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, in yet another violation of the United States’ long-standing ‘no concessions’ policy.”
Many media reports have indicated that the administration in effect has released more money, with allowing Iraq to free up to $11 billion held by its banks, while the reason for that decision is being kept secret by the administration. Many sources are reporting that the US is holding secret talks with Iran to reach an informal and unwritten deal to put a cap on its uranium enrichment, and the hostage release deal is just the first step.
The administration so far has denied any nuclear deal and insists that the unblocked funds can only be used by Iran to import food and medicine. However, the money will go to Iranian bank accounts in Qatar, a close Iranian ally in euros and it is not clear how much leverage the United States will have on oversee the disbursement of the funds.
The senators who signed the letter stated, “We are also worried that your administration is attempting to sidestep Congress and pursue other pathways to financially compensate Iran in an attempt to renegotiate a successor to the ill-fated 2015 nuclear deal. Any agreement with the Iranian regime that entails financial reward for malign behavior is wholly unacceptable.”
They went on to ask the administration if the release of the assets from South Korea violates existing US sanctions. “Will the President issue a waiver and required report to Congress consistent with Section 1245 of the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act?”
They also argued that the released cash, even if not delivered directly to Iran, is fungible and asked, “How can your departments guarantee that the funds will only be used for humanitarian purposes and will not free up additional resources that the Iranian regime can use to support terrorist networks and weapons proliferation, or increase its nuclear enrichment activities?”
The senators, representing more than half of all Republicans in the Senate, also asked several other questions about other possible secret deals with Iran.
While no Democrats joined co-sponsored the letter, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) fired his own salvo, regarding the case of Rob Malley, Biden’s former Iran envoy who has been apparently fired and is under investigation by the FBI on possible breach of security rules. Menendez said that he is working on legislation to mandate the State Department “to be transparent when there are security issues with senior officials.”