Reports in mid-August concerning a deal in the making between the United States and Iran that would involve Iran releasing five Americans in exchange for the U.S. freeing several imprisoned Iranians and giving Iran access to some $6 billion of its frozen assets via Qatar was met with mixed reaction on Capitol Hill.
While there is wide support for efforts to bring home wrongfully detained Americans in Iran or anywhere else, the details of the deal — and particularly the reported sweetener of the freeing of frozen Iranian funds — have raised concern.
Although State Department sources explained that the released funds would only be allowed to be used for the purchase of medicine, food and similar non-military items, significant concern was raised that the release of funds provides a dangerous incentive for more hostage-taking and a financial reward for regime aggression. And since money is fungible, even Iranian adherence to the non-military condition for the funds would simply free up other monies to support Iran’s malign activities.
Then came a report in The Wall Street Journal that Iran had “diluted a small amount of 60% enriched uranium in recent weeks and slowed the rate at which it is accumulating new material.” The combination of reports concerning Iran led House Republican leaders to question whether the Biden administration might be pursuing a new nuclear deal with Iran which is being bundled with the prisoner swap and release of frozen funds.
In a pointed letter to President Joe Biden last week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) warned that any deal with Iran that included any “understanding” regarding any aspect of Iran’s nuclear program was subject to the terms of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act and requires congressional review.
The letter warned against a possible “clear violation of your Administration’s legal obligation” under the act, “which requires you to submit any agreement related to the nuclear program of Iran regardless of the form it takes, whether a political commitment or otherwise, and regardless of whether it is legally binding or not.”
The letter made clear that, in the view of Scalise, Stefanik and McCaul, “any deal or understanding with Iran that does not permanently and completely halt Iran’s nuclear enrichment raises concerns that [the Biden] Administration is entrenching an Iran nuclear program that threatens U.S. national security.”
We understand that not all members of Congress share the Scalise-Stefanik-McCaul view regarding acceptable boundaries for Iran’s nuclear program. That issue can be debated at the appropriate time.
In the meantime, we don’t yet know the full terms of the planned prisoner swap and release of frozen Iranian funds. Nor do we know the extent to which ongoing Biden administration efforts to rehabilitate the Iran nuclear deal have progressed.
We trust that the administration will comply with applicable law regarding full disclosure to Congress regarding any agreement that relates to Iran’s nuclear program and hope it will be done with full transparency to the American public. ■