Sens. Cruz, Scott, Colleagues Demand Transparency from Biden Administration Following Release of Additional Iran Sanction Waivers

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tim Scott (R-S.C), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined several of their Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The letter demands that the Biden administration explain its recent decision to renew a sanctions waiver allowing the Iranian regime to more easily access funds held overseas. Those funds may be used to fund terrorism, and the Biden administration’s waiver blatantly disregards congressional intent, which was to severely restrict Iran’s access to such funds.

In the letter, the senators wrote, “It is unfathomable that this is the context in which the administration determined that it was within the national security interest of the United States to waive sanctions on restricted Iranian funds, making them more accessible to the regime. If we want to actually restore deterrence in the region, those funds should be placed further out of Iran’s reach, not closer.”

Sens. Cruz and Scott were joined in sending the letter by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) in sending the letter.

Read the full letter here.

BACKGROUND:

• In November of 2023, Sen. Cruz and several of his colleagues sent a letter criticizing the administration’s lack of a cohesive Iran strategy after the Biden administration extended a similar sanctions waiver. That letter also called upon Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to provide a classified assessment of the administration’s plan to deter Iranian aggression and prevent the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.