The Central Bank of Iran has denied that there are restrictions on the $6 billion Iranian funds that were transferred to Qatari banks.
Central Bank Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin said Sunday that the funds "are not frozen at all", confirming that their transfer is "in process".
His remarks came three days after the US House of Representatives passed a bipartisan measure that would block Iran from ever accessing the $6 billion recently transferred by the US in a prisoner swap.
The measure — titled the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act — passed 307-119 as Republicans sought to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they call their complicity in funding Iranian-backed terrorism in the Middle East.
The bill will have to pass the Senate, which is not likely given the Democratic majority in the upper chamber.
The new resolution would impose new sanctions on the funds to prevent the transfer of any money to Iran. It also threatens to sanction any government or individual involved in processing the transfer of the funds.
The US and Iran reached a tentative agreement in August that eventually saw the release of five detained Americans in Tehran and an unknown number of Iranians imprisoned in the US after billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets were transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar.
But days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the US and Qatar agreed that Iran would not be able to access the money in the meantime, with officials stopping short of a full refreezing of the funds.
US officials rebuffed the criticism pointed at the deal following the attack by Hamas on Israel, noting that not a single dollar has yet to be made available to Iran and insisting that when it is, it can only be used for humanitarian needs.
High-ranking US officials have sought to defend the decision to negotiate with Iran despite its track record of supporting terrorism against the US and its allies. But officials have also conceded that Iran’s influence over the various militant groups is undeniable.
