Senate Rejects Proposal to Restrict Iran Sanctions Waivers

The Senate voted 51-47 on March 23 to defeat a proposal from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would have prohibited the Biden administration from waiving certain sanctions against Iran.

Cruz asserted that the waivers, including those that give Iran access to $10 billion in escrow accounts from Iraqi payments for Iranian electricity, help Tehran fund terrorist groups. But Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., countered that the waivers are needed for humanitarian purposes, including food and medicine.

A Treasury Department official said in December that two humanitarian transactions had been facilitated by the $10 billion fund (see 2312140056). Four House subcommittee chairmen recently asked the administration if additional transactions have been processed since then (see 2403140010).

Cruz offered his proposal as an amendment to the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, a package of six FY 2024 appropriations bills that the Senate passed and that President Joe Biden signed into law March 23.