Exclusive: The senators leading the Biden administration to refreeze $6 billion in Iranian assets released last month as part of the prisoner release deal announced over the weekend that an alternative attack that wants its funds to be given to Israel.
On Thursday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in an interview with Fox News Digital that there was a “quiet agreement” between the U.S. and Qatar to not move any funds held in the country. He said that he believed that what was reported to be an “unreasonable agreement”. half scale. ” She was hell-bent on making sure the funds never reached the Iranians.
“By the letter that I sent about refreezing that funding, 19 senators joined on that letter. And what we wanted was to make sure that that money never ended up in the hands of Iran. And it should be frozen,” Mr Blackburn said.
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). (Getty Images)
”[The Biden administration] The waiver that allowed the transfer of the funds should be revoked. We should impose sanctions on every bank, every country that attempts to process those funds for Iran. And frankly, I think that money should be directed toward paying for the damage and destruction that has been done in Israel,” she said.
The White House insisted on the same day that none of the $6 billion in assets currently held in Qatari banks is being accessed from Iran and will only be routed to authorized domestic vendors chosen by the United States.
However, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who made this claim, never said that funding would be formally halted.
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Blackburn told Fox earlier this week after sending a letter to the White House asking for the executive order to be revoked. 6 billion dollars And in order for the United States to help Israel by sending more weapons to it, her colleague, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), called for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ark.) to support Israel by sending more weapons to it. With support from the state of Kentucky, the state advanced legislation that would prevent the use of any kind of weapon. Iranian funds.
National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on October 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
He noted that many Democrats agree, and expressed hope that there will be more bipartisan support for such a bill in both the House and Senate.
Asked about the administration’s assertion that attacks by Iran and Hamas are unrelated, Blackburn said the rhetoric from Iran is that Iran directs Hamas and funds a large portion of its budget each year. He said this shows that he was taking credit for the attack.
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At a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Kirby left open the possibility that further intelligence analysis could prove a link between Iran and the attack, but said there was currently no indication that there was a concrete link. Stated.
“Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. We know that. And when they start saying this is an essential part of removing Israel from the world, we need to listen to them. I think there is,” Blackburn said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on July 7, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
She went on to slam National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Just a week before the Hamas attacks began, Sullivan said the Middle East was the most peaceful it had been in decades.
“Jake Sullivan has a very bad history on foreign policy issues, and the advice he gave President Biden is completely off base,” Blackburn said. “He was wrong about Afghanistan. He was wrong about this deal with Iran. He was wrong about the prisoner exchange and the $6 billion deal he recently forged.”
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“It was a mistake not to impose sanctions on Iran. Now look at what they’ve done. They’re selling more oil. They’re selling more oil than ever before. They’re producing it. They’re selling it to China. They’re selling it to Russia.’ And they use that money to further their own mission and promote terrorist acts around the world.” she added.
FOX News’ Anders Hagström contributed to this report.
