by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Wednesday unveiled legislation to immediately freeze $6 billion in Iranian funds that have been held in South Korea but are due to flow back to Iran because of a prisoner exchange deal with the United States.
The Biden administration last month finalized a deal to grant a waiver to allow Iran to recoup $6 billion in assets that had been stuck in South Korea in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) — one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats — on Wednesday also urged the Biden administration to freeze the assets over the country’s support for Hamas amid the ongoing attacks against Israel.
In The Memo, The Hill’s Niall Stanage breaks down what to know about the deal that’s suddenly back in the spotlight.
