The White House on Saturday said Republicans were pushing a "disinformation" campaign to blame the Biden administration for Hamas' attack on Israel and insisted that none of the money sent to Iran in exchange for the release of five American hostages was used to support the terrorists.
"Not a single cent from these funds has been spent, and when it is spent, it can only be spent on things like food and medicine for the Iranian people," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a social media post.
"These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today and this is not the time to spread disinformation," she added.
GOP lawmakers, as well as former President Donald Trump, say the deal gave Tehran access to billions of dollars to support Hamas.
"These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force," Trump said Saturday. "Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration."
The hostage deal for $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represented money South Korea owed to the Middle Eastern nation, but had not paid, for oil purchased before the United States imposed sanctions on the transactions in 2019.
The United States has maintained that the money will be held in restricted accounts that would only be used for humanitarian goods which are allowed under sanctions targeting Iran over its nuclear program.
Some Iranian officials, though, have insisted that there will be no restrictions on how the money is spent.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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