Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are demanding answers from President Biden about an apparent "nuclear understanding" with Iran in what sure appears to be a violation of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015.
The letter, sent by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), expresses the "significant concern" the House lawmakers have with recent reports about Iran's activities and the Biden administration's talks with the regime.
Specifically, as outlined in the letter, Iran has reportedly "diluted a small amount of 60% enriched uranium in recent weeks and slowed the rate at which it is accumulating new material" which coincided with a "deal for Iran to release five American hostages in exchange for several Iranian prisoners and access to at least $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets held in South Korea and potentially billions more held in Iraq."
"Taken together, this strongly suggests your Administration has contemporaneously brokered a $6 billion prisoner deal and a nuclear 'understanding' with the regime that are inextricably linked," the letter from lawmakers explained. "This would be a clear violation of your Administration’s legal obligation under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (“INARA”; 42 U.S.C. 2160e), which requires you to submit any 'agreement related to the nuclear program of Iran' requiring U.S. action 'regardless of the form it takes, whether a political commitment or otherwise, and regardless of whether it is legally binding or not' (42 U.S.C. 2160e(h)(1)) to Congress for formal review within five days."
Perhaps even more concerning than President Biden's apparent violation of federal law, the letter underscored how any "deal or understanding with Iran that does not permanently and completely halt Iran's nuclear enrichment raises concerns that your Administration is entrenching an Iranian nuclear program that threatens U.S. national security."
As McCaul, Scalise, and Stefanik reminded in their letter to Biden:
The Iranian regime, the world’s number one state sponsor of terror, utilizes hostage-taking as a negotiating tactic and funding mechanism. The innocent Americans still under detention in Iran have endured years of false allegations, wretched conditions, and separation from their loved ones simply because the regime believes it can profit from them. Iran must release them, unconditionally. Even so, we are deeply concerned that allowing Iran to utilize $6 billion in exchange for innocent Americans creates a direct incentive for future hostage-taking by U.S. adversaries, especially Iran. This deal follows a dangerous precedent set by the Obama Administration, which settled a $1.7 billion claim by Iran, including a $400 million payment in pallets of cash, at the same time that Iran released four U.S. hostages, even as some U.S. government officials reportedly warned this could be seen as ransom. If the United States government continues to pay for hostages, Iran will keep taking them, and may demand a higher price every time.
We are also concerned that Iran will use these funds, directly or indirectly, to support its malign activities. Assurances that the money will be limited to humanitarian goods are insufficient because money is fungible. Regardless of restrictions, this deal frees up $6 billion in funds for the regime to finance its military program, terrorist proxies, nuclear activities, and repression. Iran has also previously lied about such humanitarian transactions. The Department of Justice has charged a bank for “facilitating transactions fraudulently designed to appear to be purchases of food and medicine by Iranian customers, in order to appear to fall within the so-called ‘humanitarian exception’ to certain sanctions against the Government of Iran, when in fact no purchases of food or medicine actually occurred.” There are also concerns that there are U.S. nationals imprisoned in Iran whose release is not covered by this arrangement.
Already, Iran has "enough fissile material to make two nuclear weapons and could field a nuclear weapon within several months should it decide to do so," the lawmakers reminded, meaning simply "[r]educing the rate at which Iran is stockpiling 60% enriched uranium does not significantly change this threat, particularly as Iran continues to install advanced centrifuges."
Given Iran's refusal to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s efforts to investigate the regime's nuclear efforts, the fact that Iran "continues to support attacks on U.S. forces, threaten U.S. citizens, fund terrorist proxies, undermine freedom of navigation, commit human rights abuses against its own citizens, and fuel Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine" makes the situation far more serious than Biden seems to acknowledge.
"Our citizens deserve answers about why your Administration is rewarding an Iranian regime that is targeting Americans overseas and at home," the lawmakers rightfully conclude. "Should the Administration continue to ignore U.S. law and flout congressional oversight, we will use all the tools at our disposal to bring transparency and accountability to the American people and return to a policy of maximum pressure that reverses Iran’s nuclear advancements and deters its targeting of American citizens and service members, support for terrorism, and other malign activities."