GOP lawmakers blasted United States President Joe Biden's Israel Ambassador nominee Jack Lew over his previous work on Iran sanctions.
The development came on Wednesday during a nomination hearing in the Senate, which was initially disrupted by several pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting against Israel. Once they were escorted out of the building, the meeting continued uninterrupted.
Jack Lew's Nomination
Democrat Lew defended his past work on the Iran deal, which is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He asserted that he would work to advance a "negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
The Israel ambassador nominee said that he wanted to be clear that Iran is a threat to regional stability as well as to Israel's existence. He argued that if he is confirmed, he will uphold Biden's commitment to deny Iran a nuclear weapon.
A Senate report in 2018 made by the investigative subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee found that Lew "granted a specific license that authorized a conversion of Iranian assets worth billions of U.S. dollars using the U.S. financial system," said Fox News.
The report allegedly found that the administration tried to convert $5.7 billion from U.S. banks to Iranian assets. It said that the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control "encouraged two U.S. correspondent banks to convert the funds."
Former United States President Barack Obama announced a $400 million cash transfer to Iran in January 2016 that was part of a larger installment of a $1.7 billion settlement. This is what Lew faced scrutiny for. The settlement was part of a long-standing disagreement over an arms deal that was signed before the 1970 Iranian revolution, which signified the end of the country's historical monarchy.
Scrutinized Over Past Work
The Israel ambassador nominee also served during the Clinton administration as special assistant to the president's office. He faced scrutiny over the transfer and a report at the time cited that the payment was conducted using a combination of Swiss and other foreign currencies which were later transported to Iran on unidentified cargo planes.
Republican senators on the Foreign Relations Committee expressed opposition to Lew's nomination despite pleas from the Biden administration and leading Democrats to confirm him. The top Republican on the panel, Sen. Jim Risch, said that they need the position filled but argued that it has to be the right person, according to the New York Times.
He also accused Lew of acting in what he believed was a backhanded way of supporting Iran. GOP lawmakers also alleged that the nominee lied at the time about how the deal would be implemented, especially when it came to access to previously frozen funds to Iran.
The development comes as the White House said that it was considering a request of between $90 billion and $100 billion for the wars in Israel and Ukraine. It was also planning to provide funds for Taiwan amid continued Chinese aggression. The request to Congress would provide enough money for a year, said the Times of Israel.
