(RepublicanNews.org) – Republican Senators want answers from the Biden administration about the nature of a reported $6 billion that will be handed to Iran in exchange for a handful of American hostages.
In what appears to be a grossly uneven trade, the President will unlock $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds, and the Persian regime will release five U.S. citizens. A small number of Iranians being held in American prisons will also be repatriated to the Middle East.
On August 21, Senator John Kennedy wondered on Twitter if the arrangement was part of a White House effort to “secretly renegotiate” the nuclear deal with the Islamic nation President Donald Trump withdrew America from in 2018. In a press release accompanying his tweet, Kennedy and 23 other Republican legislators accused the Biden administration of attempting to “sidestep Congress.”
Kennedy’s press release cited a letter that was sent to both the Secretary of State and the Treasury Secretary in which an “in-person briefing” from the two administration officials was requested. Antony Blinken would presumably cover all diplomatic queries from the Senators, and Janet Yellen would answer questions about the unfreezing of Iranian funds.
The letter makes clear that even if the Biden administration does not have an ulterior motive in their arrangement with the Shia regime, it sets the precedent of “providing a ransom payment” to the world’s “largest” sponsor of terrorism.
Members of the GOP had openly criticized the President’s decision to go through with the deal prior to the letter being written. Administration officials said the unfrozen Iranian funds would be used exclusively for the purchase of humanitarian aid, but Republican lawmakers begged to differ.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley said the released Iranian money is likely to “fund more terrorism.”
Not long after the deal was first announced, the Iranian foreign ministry contradicted the Biden administration narrative and said that “no restrictions” would be “imposed” on their frozen assets.
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