Tennessee U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) delivered remarks at a recent House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing entitled, “Moving the Money: Understanding the Iranian Regime’s Access to Money Around the World and How They Use It to Support Terrorism.”
The Biden Administration's lax policies on Iran–a state sponsor of terror and a major supporter of Hamas–are ridiculous!
We must hold their terrorist regime accountable. WATCH ⬇ pic.twitter.com/s5NlHtrliU
— Congressman John Rose (@RepJohnRose) October 28, 2023
The focus of the hearing revolved around three core inquiries: first, the extent and accessibility of restricted Iranian funds globally; second, the origins of the 6 billion dollars employed in hostage negotiations within Iran; and third, the Biden Administration’s involvement in facilitating the Iranian regime’s access to an additional 10 billion dollars from Iraq for electricity.
Rose began his remarks by expressing his disappointment in the Biden Administration’s “lax-on Iran policies,” noting, “Iran is a longtime state sponsor of terror and a major supporter of Hamas.”
“It is crystal clear that Hamas and Hamas’ benefactor, Iran, have zero regard for the sanctity of human life,” Rose added. “It greatly concerns me that the Biden Administration has recently allowed billions of dollars in Iranian funds to be transferred around the globe in an opaque and completely non transparent manner.”
“It is absolutely essential that Congress fully understands how these money transfers were allowed and the current status of these Iranian funds,” Rose said.
The Tennessee congressman went on to note that the current sanctions on Iran simply need to be enforced by the Biden Administration as opposed to the creation of new ones.
The subcommittee’s hearing heard testimony from the following witnesses:
- Mr. Richard Goldberg, Senior Advisor, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
- Mr. Gabriel Noronha, Fellow, The Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy, The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)
- Mr. Clayton Thomas, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service
Under questioning from Rose, Thomas confirmed there is no such tool available for public or Congressional use to understand where Iranian money is in the world.
As such, Noronha said such a tool would not only benefit the public’s understanding of Iranian funds but would also help Congress “do its oversight job and not just rely on the executive branch to do what Congress tells it to do.”
The hearing came days after the subcommittee launched an investigation into the Biden Administration’s decisions regarding economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Rep John Rose” by Rep. John Rose.
