BISMARCK – Last month, the Biden administration reissued a $10 billion Iran sanctions waiver, unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access hard currency from Iraq’s continued electricity purchases from Iran. In light of the administration’s recent decision, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, joined Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) in sending a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to hold the administration accountable and demand transparency for the American people on payments to Iran.
The Republican senators expressed two primary concerns with the decision to renew the waiver: it makes restricted funds more accessible to the Ayatollah’s regime, at a time when Iranian-backed aggression in the region is at a peak, and the administration appears to be disregarding congressional intent that any payments made to Iran remain severely restricted.
“We write again to express concern regarding the Biden administration’s ongoing strategy of appeasement in response to Iranian aggression,” the senators wrote. “It is unfathomable that this is the context in which the administration determined that it was within the national security interest of the United States to waive sanctions on restricted Iranian funds, making them more accessible to the regime. If we want to actually restore deterrence in the region, those funds should be placed further out of Iran’s reach, not closer.”
“The United States should be restricting Iran’s access to currency abroad. Instead, your administration is expanding it, all while continuing to share limited information on a strategy to restore deterrence in the Middle East with Congress or the American people,” the senators continued. “Thank you for your cooperation on this important national security inquiry.”
Additional cosigners include U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Todd Young (R-IN).
Click here for the letter.
After the administration previously extended a sanctions waiver to allow Iraq to pay Iran for electricity, Senator Cramer joined his colleagues in sending a letter in November to Secretary Yellen, Secretary Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, demanding answers over the lack of a consistent strategy pertaining to Iran. He also joined his Senate Republican colleagues in August of 2023 to demand answers regarding the $6 billion the administration released to Iran in exchange for American prisoners.
Further, Senator Cramer cosponsored the Revoke Iranian Funding Act in October which would prevent the regime from accessing and using the funds held in Qatar to finance terrorist attacks against Israel or any other nation.