During a Tuesday press conference, President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan refused to commit to freezing the $6 billion that the Biden administration unfroze for Iran before the terrorist-supporting country aided Hamas in attacking Israel.
According to a statement to the Wall Street Journal from senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, Iranian security officials played a key role in planning the terrorist attack against Israel over the weekend from Palestinian terror group Hamas. The senior members of the terrorist groups told the outlet that Iran helped plan the attack and “gave the green light” for the attack during “a meeting in Beirut last Monday.”
This report was later confirmed by the Washington Post, which reported that Hamas planned the attack “with key support from Iranian allies who provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons,” according to current and former Western and Middle Eastern intelligence officials.
During a White House press conference on Tuesday, a reporter asked Sullivan about freezing Iran’s funds in response to their role in slaughtering over 1,000 people in Israel — including at least 11 Americans. The attack also left several thousand wounded and at least 100 people were kidnapped by Hamas.
“You just laid out all the ways that Iran is complicit and facilitated it … is that reason enough to re-freeze the $6 billion that the U.S. helped unlock for them?” the reporter asked Sullivan.
“We have not yet had a dollar of that $6 billion spent, and I will leave it at that,” the national security advisor replied.
"You just laid out all the ways that Iran is complicit … is that reason enough to re-freeze the $6 billion that the U.S. helped unlock for them?"
Jake Sullivan: "We have not yet had a dollar of that $6 billion spent and I will leave it at that" pic.twitter.com/Vtvs2tX1hU
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 10, 2023
Meanwhile, Biden refused to mention Iran at all during a speech on Tuesday discussing the Americans being held hostage by terrorists — prompting backlash from conservatives over the administration’s failure to hold Iran accountable.
“We now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas,” the president said during the speech, adding: “I’ve directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts. Because as president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world.”
Senate Republicans have sent a letter to Biden demanding that the White House re-freeze Iran’s $6 billion.
“We write today to affirm our unwavering support for Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, and call on the U.S. Department of State to freeze the accounts in Qatar containing $6 billion in Iranian funds that were released from South Korean accounts in September,” 18 Senate Republicans wrote in the letter.
“We must stand with Israel and restrict access to these Iranian funds,” the letter continued. “Iran should be placed under the most stringent sanctions admissible. Anything short of this is unacceptable and only aids in the ability of Iran and Hamas to fund these heinous acts.”
President Biden is refusing to freeze the $6 billion ransom payment to Iran because he is afraid to admit it was a catalyst for the attacks.
He still has time to limit the damage. Enough politics.@POTUS — freeze the $6 billion now.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 9, 2023
