Biden administration unlocks $10 billion for Iran

The Biden administration approved a sanctions waiver that allows Iran to access $10 billion in energy payments from Iraq, the State Department said. 

The waiver, which was set to expire this week after being authorized in July for 120 days, allows Iraq to pay Iran for electricity. After renewing the waiver Tuesday, a State Department official told The Washington Free Beacon, it "allows Iraq to use its own funds to render payment for Iranian electricity imports into restricted Iranian accounts in Iraq." 

The State Department also said that because of Iraq's energy reliance on Iran, "this waiver continues to be necessary, to provide space and time for the government of Iraq to implement [Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani's] energy reform agenda."

The official also said that the funds may "only be used for humanitarian and other non-sanctionable transactions," but critics argue that the waiver allows Iran to allocate other resources to financing global terror. This practice has been particularly under scrutiny after Hamas terrorists, who are funded by Iran, invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping around 240 others. 

The Trump administration also allowed Iraq to import energy from Iran, but on the condition that the payments remained in a Baghdad-based escrow account. The Biden administration continued the waiver but expanded it in July so Iraq could place more than $10 billion in Iranian-owned bank accounts in Oman and Europe. 

Allowing the funds to be placed outside of the Baghdad account will make it easier for the Islamic Republic to access them, according to Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior adviser Richard Goldberg. 

"The world is living in a post-Oct. 7 world, but the White House is still running an Oct. 6 policy toward Iran," said Goldberg, who served on the Trump White House National Security Council. "Why should Iran have any access to more than $10 billion after sponsoring one of the worst terrorist attacks against American citizens and the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust? It would make more sense to freeze all of these accounts and keep every penny out of Tehran's hands."

Goldberg urged Congress to quickly act to cut off Iran's access to the funding and said, "The White House just responded to October 7th with a $10 billion reward." 

The Biden administration came under fire earlier this year for freeing up $6 billion for Iran as part of a prisoner swap. The U.S. and Qatar agreed in the days after the Oct. 7 attack to stop Iran from accessing those funds, which were payments to Iran from South Korea for oil.

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