Sen. Cory Booker told “CBS Mornings” on Friday that $6 billion in Iranian oil assets that were freed up as part of last month’s U.S.-Iran prisoner swap are “frozen.”
“A dollar of it has not gone out,” said Booker, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee and was in Jerusalem when Hamas launched its large-scale attack. He said senators have received “assurances” the money has been frozen.
Booker’s remarks came after a source told CBS News on Thursday that the U.S. had reached a “quiet understanding” with Qatar not to release any of the $6 billion. According to the source, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo informed House Democrats of that understanding in a closed-door meeting Thursday morning and said the money “isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
The timing of the “understanding” was not disclosed by the source, who had knowledge of the arrangement, so it is not known whether it transpired after Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend.
Many Republicans criticized the Biden administration for releasing the funds as part of the Iran deal, claiming they freed up resources for Iran to support Hamas’ attack. They made the claims without evidence, and Treasury’s top sanctions official Brian Nelson said Saturday that the funds were still in restricted accounts in Qatar.
Last month, as a crucial part of the high-stakes agreement between Iran and the Biden administration, the money owed by South Korea to Iran was transferred from a restricted account in South Korea to Qatar. This payment was in relation to the oil purchased by South Korea prior to the imposition of sanctions by the Trump administration in 2019. The release of five Americans who were unjustly detained in Iran resulted from this significant deal.
The Biden administration firmly stated that the funds would not be directly allocated to Iran, but rather exclusively utilized for Iran’s procurement of essential humanitarian items like food and medicine.
During a press conference held in Israel on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken refrained from explicitly confirming the freezing of funds. However, he stated that Iran had not utilized or accessed any of the money in question. Additionally, Blinken emphasized that the United States exercises rigorous supervision over these funds and reserves the authority to impose a freeze if necessary.
Despite the fact that the militant group Hamas heavily relies on Iran’s financial and political support, Iran has denied any involvement in their weekend assault.
As of Friday, the Israeli military reported that Hamas’ attack and continuous rocket fire have resulted in the deaths of over 1,300 individuals, including at least 27 Americans. In Gaza, the Health Ministry disclosed that Israel’s retaliatory strikes have claimed the lives of at least 1,537 people, including 447 children, with over 6,600 others sustaining injuries.
Israel has warned residents of northern Gaza to evacuate south, as a ground invasion of Gaza by Israel is expected.
Booker expressed his endorsement for safeguarding civilian lives in the conflict and emphasized his active efforts in doing so. He labeled Hamas as a Nazi-like group that exploits Palestinians by employing them as human shields.
Referring to the militant group’s attack on Saturday, he stated that Hamas was well aware of the anticipated response when they carried out this action.
He stated that they were aware of the anticipated response, but they were indifferent towards it.
Nancy Cordes and Caitlin Yilek contributed to this report.
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