Biden-Harris admin says they 'have not lifted a single sanction' on Iran after allowing release of frozen $16 billion to Iran in 2023

The Biden-Harris administration said during the Tuesday White House daily news conference that it has “not lifted a single sanction” on Iran – even after it gave back the $16 billion in frozen funds to Iran.

When asked if Iran would suffer any consequences after it fired missiles at Israel Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that it was “an ongoing situation” and that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was continuing “to monitor what’s occurring” and “having conversations with his counterparts in Israel.”

“This administration has not lifted a single sanction on Iran. We cannot forget that. Rather, we continue to increase pressure,” Jean-Pierre said. “Our extensive sanctions on Iran remain in place, and we certainly will continue to enforce them.”

When a reporter noted that “Iran's oil exports have reached record levels now,” achieving "3.2 million barrels per day,” or “about $90 billion a year,” Jean-Pierre reiterated her statement, “We have not lifted any, a single, sanction, if anything. And as I said moments ago, we increased pressure. That's what we have been doing,” she said.

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump came out swinging against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the administration not having a grip on the exploding conflict in the Middle East that will see its first anniversary in less than week. The former President attacked Harris for “illegally spying” on him, referencing FBI reports that claim Iran tried to share hacked material from the Trump campaign with the Vice President.

Donald Trump has warned that the foreign policy failures of the Biden-Harris administration is leading the US to the brink of World War III.

In reaching a prisoner swap agreement with Iran, the US unfroze $6 billion in Iranian funds in September 2023 that had been held in a South Korean bank. The US said that Iran could only use the funds for humanitarian purposes. Following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, the US and Qatar, where the Iranian funds had been transferred to, agreed to block Iran from accessing the funds.

In November 2023, the Biden administration renewed a waiver allowing Iran access to over $10 billion in frozen funds, according to the Free Beacon. The waiver allowed Iran to transfer electricity payments to the country through third-party countries. Like the $6 billion in funds, the US said these funds could only be used for humanitarian purposes. That waiver was approved again in March 2024. According to Al-Monitor, that sanctions waiver was granted again in July.