Congressional Republicans demanded Tuesday that the Biden administration block Iran from accessing $6 billion in assets freed up as part of a prisoner exchange finalized last month.
The Treasury Department privately assured Democratic lawmakers last week that the US has a “quiet understanding” with Qatar — where the $6 billion is currently stashed — that the money “isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
But Republicans want the administration to make a public declaration to that effect.
“We know that Iran bankrolls Hamas, and yet it is perplexing why this administration refuses to issue a formal decision to freeze the $6 billion,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told reporters on Capitol Hill. “We must permanently freeze the $6 billion ransom payment to Iran.”
“The idea you can bribe Iran to be normal doesn’t work. There’s not enough money you can send these people to make them behave,” added Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “I believe them when they say ‘Death to America.’ They’re not joking.”
Graham further suggested the Biden administration should threaten war against Iran if its proxy, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, attacks Israel from the north while the Jewish state’s forces are preoccupied with the threat from Hamas in Gaza.
“Not only should we cut off all the money, we should put on the table that if there’s a second front opened against Israel by Hezbollah — that has 100,000 precision-guided rockets pointed at Israel — if that happens, there will not be a two-front war, there’ll be a three-front war,” he argued.
Not all of Graham’s Republican colleagues were wiling to be so belligerent, with Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) saying: “I think, you know, Senator Graham speaks his own mind on these issues.”
Biden administration officials, such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, have insisted that not one penny of the $6 billion has been accessed by Iran so far.
Furthermore, they have stressed that the $6 billion in assets, which came from Iranian oil revenue, is being closely monitored by the Treasury Department and reserved for humanitarian uses only.
Republicans have countered that every cent given to Iran only allows the theocracy to shell out more money to its jihadist proxies.
“Money is fungible for their malign activities,” Thune said Tuesday. “They [Iran] are the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world today.”
On the House side, 20 Republican members led by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) called on Biden to refreeze the money in a Friday letter to the commander-in-chief.
“We implore you to ensure the money cannot be touched by Iran, under any circumstances. Money is fungible,” they wrote.
“We were previously alarmed by Iranian President Raisi bragging to the world that Iran would spend the $6 billion ‘wherever we need it,'” they continued, referencing the Iranian leader’s comments to NBC News last month.
Senate Republicans have also proposed legislation to permanently cut off Iran from the money.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) announced an effort to do just that last week.
On Tuesday, presidential aspirant Tim Scott (R-SC), the top GOP member of the Senate Banking Committee, rolled out his plan.
“My bill is a comprehensive approach to wielding our economic sanctions tools against Iran by freezing the $6 billion and ensuring Congress has the information necessary to prevent Iran from accessing funds in the future,” Scott said in a statement.
“We must be unequivocal that the United States will not back down and waive sanctions on frozen Iranian funds held by other nations.”
A handful of Democrats, most of them facing tough re-election fights in 2024, have also called for a refreezing of Tehran’s $6 billion.
Those lawmakers include Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Biden administration has described Iran as “complicit” in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, which killed more than 1,300 people — including at least 30 Americans.
US officials say another 13 are unaccounted for, with some confirmed to be held as hostages by the terror group in the Gaza Strip.