Biden faces embarrassment over $6billion Iran hostage deal as Republicans AND Democrats vote to permanently freeze funds
President Biden faces a humiliating foreign policy setback as the $6 billion he used to free five jailed Americans from Iran could be frozen.
Lawmakers, including members of Biden’s party, voted Thursday to approve a bill that would permanently freeze funds that were unfrozen by the White House in September as part of a contentious deal.
The bill, called the Iranian Terrorism Financing Ban Act, passed by a vote of 307 to 119, with the approval of nearly all Republicans and 90 Democrats.
The bill would prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from accessing funds through sanctions and now heads to the Senate.
It comes as Republicans pressure the White House to unfreeze $6 billion following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, with Iran a major backer of the terror group.
President Biden, pictured in the Oval Office on Thursday, could see the $6 billion he used in the Iran deal frozen by Congress due to a setback in international relations.
In September, the White House used the funds as leverage to secure the release of five American citizens jailed in Iran in months of negotiations that now risk breaking down.
Congressman Michael McCaul introduced House-approved legislation Thursday to freeze the funds. He is pictured with the father of a Hamas hostage while talking to family members of those being held by the terrorist group on Wednesday.
The cash-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 to transfer the funds.
US citizens held in the country were accused of spying on behalf of the US government in Iran, and five Iranian citizens held in the US were also released as part of the deal.
The deal had been in the works for months and was long overdue, but Republicans reacted with fury, with Donald Trump saying the money would pay for terrorism and calling Biden an “incompetent fool,” while Ron DeSantis accused Biden of “selling out to America.” ‘
After a brutal Hamas attack that left 1,400 people dead and another 240 taken hostage, Biden temporarily withheld the funds, a move critics said was insufficient.
The ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul, who introduced the bill Thursday, said after his bill cleared the House: “If they don’t do it, we will.”
“Congress will not allow this money to flow into Iran, not just for politics, not even for the American people, but for victims of terrorism around the world, especially the people of Israel,” he added.
In response, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Gregory Meeks, an opponent of the bill, said Iran had not yet spent “one penny” of the unfrozen funds.
The potential freeze of funds was also seen by critics as damaging to ongoing negotiations for the release of more hostages taken by Hamas, as it would be seen as a sudden 180-degree turn in an agreement agreed more than two months ago.
While dozens of Hamas hostages have been released amid weak containment of the conflict with Israel, the terror group said on Thursday that about 100 people were still being held captive.
“Supporting this legislation would be a blow to America’s global standing,” Meeks added.
Republicans pressured the White House to pause the $6 billion deal after the brutal Hamas attack on Oct. 7 because Iran is considered a major backer of the terror group. Pictured: Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on November 11.
Family members hug freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Sharghi after they were released from Iran as part of a swap deal on September 19.
The prisoner exchange, which took place in September, sparked controversy in Washington as it came amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran as both countries also stalled in nuclear talks.
Republicans reacted with fury to the deal, with many seeing it as funding Iran’s support for Hamas in its conflict with Israel.
Several Republicans vying to succeed Biden in the White House spoke out after the hostages returned to the US, as Trump said he never paid for the hostages’ release and added: “This incompetent FOOL is absolutely ruining 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 troubled” by the deal and called the timing of the announcement “particularly egregious.”
“I remain deeply concerned that the administration’s decision to lift sanctions to facilitate the transfer of $6 billion to Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, creates a direct incentive for America’s adversaries to carry out future hostage situations,” he said.