US says will have ‘strict oversight’ on Iranian funds transferred to Qatar

WASHINGTON

The US State Department said Tuesday that $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds being transferred from South Korean to Qatari accounts will be under “strict oversight” of Washington that will have the ability to freeze them.

"The Treasury Department has strict oversight over the use of those funds. We have visibility into how they are used, and we have the ability to police their use," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

He said the US will “remain vigilant” in watching the spending of the funds.

Miller repeated previous statements from the Biden administration that said the funds could only be used for “humanitarian purposes.”

“It has always been Iranian money in accounts that was available to them for humanitarian purposes,” he said.

Miller said there are “tough choices” involved in bringing home American citizens.

“But the president and the secretary have decided that their first priority is to bring these American citizens home. And that's why we agreed to this arrangement to do that,” he said.

The remarks came one day after several media outlets reported that the Biden administration has granted a waiver to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds in exchange for the release of five American detainees.