(Radio Iowa) – A bill co-sponsored by Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn would block Iran’s access to six billion dollars designated for humanitarian aide. It was part of a recent prisoner swap between the U-S and Iran.  “This bill would provide a surgical strike, as it were, in rescinding the  licenses involving the $6 billion transferred from South Korea to Qatar in September of 2023,” Nunn says, “effectively cutting off Iran’s access to these  funds.” Iranian oil money had been held in South Korean banks since 2019 and the six billion has been transferred to Qatar’s central bank, but it has not been distributed to Iran yet. Nunn says Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world and if that money is released, it would let Iran redirect resources to groups like Hamas.

“This would ensure that those assets don’t flow to Iran and the government of Iran,” Nunn says. Nunn’s bill was among a dozen approved by the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. Nunn says the bill calls for the U-S to review any transaction — anywhere — that involves transfers of five million dollars or more to Iran.

“In fact, our own Department of Justice recently found that Turkish Halkbank had illicitly transferred approximately $20 billion worth of restricted Iranian funds through a so-called ‘humanitarian exception,’ but none of that was used for the people of Iran,” Nunn says. “Instead, that money was used to directly threaten the United States and train terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas.” Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, says there have been Iranian backed strikes on U-S forces in the Middle East since the Hamas attacks on Israel last month.