U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) are concerned that the Biden administration is pursuing a nuclear understanding with Iran alongside a hostage release deal.
Citing an Aug. 11 news story by the Wall Street Journal, the lawmakers said the administration simultaneously brokered a $6 billion prisoner deal and a nuclear understanding with the Iranian regime that are intrinsically linked, without first submitting it for congressional review pursuant to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), according to an Aug. 23 letter they sent to the president.
“The Iranian regime, the world’s number one state sponsor of terror, utilizes hostage-taking as a negotiating tactic and funding mechanism. 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,” Rep. Scalise, Rep. McCaul, and a colleague wrote. “If the United States government continues to pay for hostages, Iran will keep taking them, and may demand a higher price every time.”
The members also pointed out that any such deal or understanding with Iran that does not permanently and completely halt the country’s nuclear enrichment raises concerns that the Biden administration is entrenching an Iranian nuclear program that threatens U.S. national security.
“We are also concerned that Iran will use these funds, directly or indirectly, to support its malign activities,” wrote the congressmen. “Assurances that the money will be limited to humanitarian goods are insufficient because money is fungible.”
American citizens deserve answers about why the administration is rewarding an Iranian regime that is targeting Americans overseas and at home, according to their letter.
And the lawmakers reminded the president that the administration must adhere to U.S. law, which requires that any agreement, arrangement, or understanding, formal or informal, with Iran needs to be submitted to Congress pursuant to INARA.
“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 servicemembers, support for terrorism, and other malign activities,” they wrote.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) also signed the letter.