WASHINGTON -- The Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee approved legislation Wednesday to prohibit the United States from making cash payments to Iran and to require that Congress be notified before any future claims settlements with Tehran are conducted.
Passage of the bill on a 21-16 vote came a week after President Barack Obama's administration acknowledged it paid Iran $1.7 billion in cash earlier this year to settle a decades-old arbitration claim between the two countries.
An initial $400 million delivery of euros, Swiss francs and other foreign currencies was delivered on pallets on Jan. 17, the same day Tehran agreed to release four American prisoners. The remaining $1.3 billion was paid in cash installments made on Jan. 22 and Feb. 5, administration officials said last week in a closed briefing for congressional staff.
Republicans have decried the payments as ransom, a charge the Obama administration has rejected. Citing Iran's status as a leading state sponsor of terrorism, Republicans also have contended the money will be used to finance terrorism around the world.
The committee's chairman, Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., said Obama made it easier for Iran to funnel money to Hezbollah and other terrorist groups by delivering Tehran virtually untraceable cash.
"We are basically doing their money laundering for them, in a sense," Royce said.
Obama said last month at a Pentagon news conference that cash was delivered "because we couldn't send them a check and we couldn't wire the money. We don't have a banking relationship with Iran which is part of the pressure we applied on them."
But Royce said he recently learned that the administration used a bank wire to send Iran $8.6 million for 32 metric tons of heavy water. The deal, announced in April, was aimed at helping Iran meet the terms of last year's deal in which Iran agreed to curb its atomic program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday that GOP lawmakers never imagined a bill prohibiting cash payments to Iran would be necessary.
"This $1.7 billion payment to Iran sets a dangerous precedent that puts a price on the head of Americans traveling abroad," the Wisconsin Republican said.
Democrats who opposed the bill denied the $1.7 billion amounted to ransom and accused Republicans of trying to score political points.
A Section on 09/15/2016