The United States and Qatar have reached a “quiet understanding” not to allow Iran to access any of the $6 billion in Iranian funds that were transferred to Qatari accounts last month as part of a deal to free Americans detained in Iran for the time being, following Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel on Saturday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats Thursday, according to a source in the room.
Adeyemo conveyed to lawmakers in that meeting that those funds would not be touched anytime soon, according to another congressional source.
The funds were moved to Qatari accounts as part of a broad deal to secure the release of five Americans whom the US deemed had been wrongfully detained in Iran. There were bipartisan calls to freeze the funds in the wake of the deadly Hamas attacks in Israel this weekend.
Administration officials have said there is no direct evidence of Iran having a direct link to the attack but that Tehran is broadly complicit given their historic support for the terrorist group.
Still, the “quiet understanding” not to move the money right now appears to be largely symbolic, given the strict restrictions that were already tied to the funds.
None of the funds have “been spent or accessed in any way by Iran,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference Thursday in Tel Aviv.
Source: cnn.com
