The United States has confirmed that it will place restrictions on what Iranian actors can do with billions of dollars of funds that would be unfrozen under an emerging agreement that has led to five Americans being released from prison to house arrest in Tehran.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Aug. 11 that the country would have “full visibility” into where any released Iranian funds get sent and how they’re used.
“Essentially, the funds can only be accessed for food, medicine, medical equipment that would not have a dual military use,” Mr. Kirby told reporters. “And there will be a rigorous process of due diligence and standards applied with input from the U.S. Treasury Department.”
He stressed that talks are still underway and that “the deal is not done.”
An estimated $6 billion in Iranian assets are currently held in South Korea. Mr. Kirby said there would be “no impediment” to the potential transfer of the restricted account from South Korea to Qatar, where Tehran would then be able to access the funds.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Aug. 10 that the deal doesn’t mean that Iran will be getting any sanctions relief “in any event, in any respect.”
Mr. Blinken said that the Biden administration has been in contact with the families of the five Americans freed to house arrest from prison.
“My belief is that this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare and the nightmare that their families have experienced,” he said.
Starting what could be a multifaceted process lasting weeks, on Aug. 10, Iran permitted four U.S. detainees to transition from Tehran’s Evin prison to house arrest. Another U.S. citizen had previously been placed under home confinement.
According to Iran’s mission to the United Nations, the agreement also entails the United States’ release of certain Iranians from its prisons.
Some Republicans have said that the deal makes it appear as if the Biden administration is essentially providing a ransom for the U.S. citizens. They have also said that by allowing Iran to allocate the money for humanitarian causes, it could inadvertently enable the country to divert resources toward its nuclear initiatives or support militias in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
Iran has been accumulating near-weapons-grade enriched uranium. Highly enriched uranium and plutonium are two key ingredients used to build nuclear weapons.
