According to three sources familiar with Wally Adeyemo’s remarks, two of whom were in the room, the U.S. and Qatari governments have agreed to prevent Iran from accessing any of the $6 billion it obtained access to as part of a prisoner swap deal among the Biden administration and Tehran last month.
According to the two sources present, Adeyemo omitted to specify how long Iran would be prevented from accessing the funds by the United States and Qatar.
Adeyemo’s remarks were initially covered by Punchbowl News.
Bipartisan pressure forced the administration to make the choice as American officials continued to look into whether Iran was directly involved in Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel. The Biden administration has stated that Tehran may only use the $6 billion in unfrozen Iranian oil assets for humanitarian purposes.
Last month, the funds were transferred from a bank in South Korea to one in Qatar. Administration officials have stated that Iran could only receive the funds after a series of steps, including supervision by the Treasury Department.
Over the past few days, administration officials have claimed that Iran has not received any of the money and that the U.S. might re-freeze it at any time. However, there was mounting pressure on the White House to make it obvious that Iran would not be allowed to access the funds.
Money is fungible, according to opponents of the White House’s decision to grant Iran access to the $6 billion, and whatever dollars Iran receives, regardless of whether they are for humanitarian help, will free up more money for it to support terrorism.
It’s unclear how the administration’s efforts to strike future agreements for the release of further Americans unfairly detained in detention may be impacted by preventing Iran’s access to the $6 billion.