The House passed a bipartisan measure Thursday that would block Iran from ever accessing the $6 billion recently transferred by the US in a prisoner swap, a step Republicans pushed in response to the nation’s alleged role in the deadly attacks last month by Hamas on Israel.
The measure—titled the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act—passed 307-119 as Republicans sought to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they call their complicity in funding Iranian-backed terrorism in the Middle East. “With such instability in the region, the last thing we need to do is to give access to $6 billion to be diverted to more Iranian-sponsored terrorism,” Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during a debate. US officials have rebuffed this criticism, noting that not a single dollar has yet to be made available to Iran and insisting that when it is, it can only be used for humanitarian needs.
The US and Iran reached the tentative agreement in August that eventually saw the release of five detained Americans in Tehran and an unknown number of Iranians imprisoned in the U.S. after billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets were transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar. But days after the 7 Oct attack by Hamas, the US and Qatar agreed that Iran would not be able to access the money in the meantime, with officials stopping short of a full refreezing of the funds. The GOP-backed resolution, which now goes to the Senate where it is unlikely to be supported by the Democratic majority, would impose new sanctions on the funds to prevent the transfer of any monies to Iran. It also threatens to sanction any government or individual involved in processing the transfer of the funds.
Officials have also conceded that Iran’s influence over the various militant groups is undeniable. “Hamas wouldn’t be around in the way that it is without the support that it’s received from Iran over the years,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during interviews after the attack. But he acknowledged that ‘’we have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack’’.
