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President Biden faces a humiliating foreign policy setback as $6 billion he used to leverage the release of five Americans imprisoned in Iran could be frozen.
Lawmakers, including members of Biden’s own party, voted Thursday to approve a bill that would permanently freeze the funds, which were unfrozen by the White House in September as part of a controversial deal.
The bill, called the No Funding for Iranian Terrorism Act, passed with a vote of 307 to 119, which was approved by nearly all Republicans and 90 Democrats.
The legislation would prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from accessing the funds through sanctions and now heads to the Senate.
It comes as Republicans have increased pressure on the White House to make a 180-degree turn in unfreezing the $6 billion following the Hamas attacks on October 7, with Iran being one of the terrorist group’s main supporters. .
President Biden, pictured in the Oval Office on Thursday, could see Congress freeze $6 billion he used in a deal with Iran, in a setback for international relations.
The funds were used as leverage by the White House in September to free five American citizens imprisoned in Iran, in a months-long negotiation that could now be undermined.
Congressman Michael McCaul introduced the legislation, passed by the House on Thursday, to freeze the funds. He appears with the father of a Hamas hostage in a conversation with relatives of the terrorist group’s hostages on Wednesday.
The prisoners-for-cash deal sparked controversy in September as it coincided with the anniversary of 9/11, when five hostages were freed after the money was transferred to Qatar, which acted as an intermediary for the funds.
American citizens detained in the nation were charged with espionage on behalf of the American government in Iran, and five Iranian citizens detained in the United States were also released as part of the deal.
The deal had been months in the making and long expected, but Republicans reacted with fury: Donald Trump said the money would pay for terrorism and called Biden an “incompetent fool,” and Ron DeSantis accused Biden of “selling out to USA”. ‘
Following the brutal Hamas attack in which 1,400 people were killed and another 240 taken hostage, Biden temporarily suspended funding, a move critics say did not go far enough.
Rep. Michael McCaul, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who introduced Thursday’s bill, said after his bill passed the House: “If they don’t do it, then they do it.” we will do.”
“Congress will stop this money from going to Iran, not just for politics, not even for the American people, but for the victims of terrorism around the world, especially the people of Israel,” he added.
In response, the committee’s ranking Democratic congressman, Gregory Meeks, an opponent of the bill, argued that Iran had not yet spent “a penny” of the unfrozen funds.
Critics also saw the possible freezing of funds as harming ongoing negotiations to release more hostages held by Hamas, as it would be seen as a sudden U-turn on a deal agreed to more than two months ago.
While dozens of Hamas hostages have been freed amid a tenuous hold on the conflict with Israel, the terrorist group said Thursday that around 100 people are still in captivity.
“Supporting this legislation will harm America’s global credibility,” Meeks added.
Republicans have increased pressure on the White House to stop the $6 billion deal following the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, as Iran is seen as the terrorist group’s main supporter. In the photo: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on November 11.
Relatives hug freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi after they were freed from Iran in the September 19 exchange deal.
The prisoner swap in September sparked controversy in Washington as it came amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran as the two nations are also deadlocked over nuclear talks.
Republicans reacted angrily to the deal, with many seeing it as funding Iran’s support for Hamas in its conflict with Israel.
Several Republicans running to succeed Biden in the White House spoke out after the hostages returned to the United States, as Trump said he had never paid to free any hostages, adding: “This incompetent FOOL is absolutely destroying America “. He had the audacity to announce this terrible deal today, September 11th.
His Republican presidential rival, DeSantis, said: “This deal funds nuclear ambitions, hostage takers and extremists who hate America.”
McCaul expressed support for the hostages’ release but said he was “deeply concerned” about the deal and called the timing of the announcement “particularly egregious.”
“I remain deeply concerned that the administration’s decision to waive sanctions to facilitate the transfer of $6 billion in funds to Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, creates a direct incentive for U.S. adversaries to United States to carry out future hostage takings,” he said.