President Joe Biden didn’t mention Iran by name in his speech to the nation Tuesday, instead offering a generalized warning to any state or actor seeking to exploit the situation in Israel as it prepares to respond to the brazen Hamas terror attack.
‘Let me say again, any country, any organization anyone thinking of taking advantage of situation. I have one word: don’t,’ Biden said.
He made the comment where he called out the stunning October 7 attack as ‘unadulterated evil’, as his administration is going back over the flow of intelligence information to see if Iran or its proxies aided the effort. The White House repeated its assessment that it cannot confirm that Iran aided the attack.
Biden also didn’t mention the deal that unfroze $6 billion in Iranian assets in a deal that freed five Americans – although his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, got multiple questions about it at the White House.
President Biden called out ‘unadulterated evil’ in the Hamas attack on Israel, in a speech where he did not specifically name Iran, who the administration says has supported Hamas for years
‘We’ve said since the beginning, that Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense, because they have provided the lion’s share of the funding for the military wing of Hamas, they have provided training, they have provided capabilities, they have provided support, and they have had engagement in contact with Hamas over years and years,’ Sullivan said.
‘And all of that has played a role in contributing to what we have seen. Now as to the question of whether Iran knew about this attack in advance or help plan or direct this attack, we do not, as of the moment I’m standing here at the podium, have confirmation of that.’
But he said the administration was talking to the Israelis about it and ‘looking back through our intelligence holdings’ seeking information.
Sullivan was emphatic when asked if the administration regretted the prisoner swap in light of the attack.
‘The United States does not regret bringing home American citizens who have been unjustly detained abroad, as I said before, the President has no higher priority than to get Americans home,’ he said. ‘Right now. We have Americans who are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. That is a high priority, bringing those Americans home from Iran was a high priority from Afghanistan, from Venezuela, from other places as well. And we stand by bringing those people home because that is the duty of the commander in chief is to get innocent Americans out of captivity in places that they are being unjustly detained.’
‘Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense,’ national security advisor Jake Sullivan said at the White House
The president met with his security team at the Situation Room, as seen in a photo handed out by the White House
Biden is facing pressure from Republican senators to reimpose a freeze on $6 billion in Iranian funds following this weekend’s brutal Hamas terror attack in Israel.
The Iranian regime was allowed to access the money under a recent deal that freed American hostages, and the funds are supposed to be used for humanitarian purposes.
But the Republicans say it could allow Tehran to ‘reallocate’ resources to finance further terror attacks.
Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israel from Gaza on Tuesday, following a coordinated attack on Saturday which killed over 900 Israelis and raised immediate suspicion of outside support.
Israel is preparing a potential ground invasion in response to the attacks.
‘To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless Israelis is unconscionable,’ 20 Republican senators wrote Biden on Monday.
‘Your administration claims these funds are only available for humanitarian use, but money is fungible, and there is a significant risk they could be used to further efforts by Iran or Hamas against Israel.’
Allowing the funds to flow into Iran’s economy ‘allows the Iranian regime to reallocate even more funds to supporting terrorism,’ they added, saying oversight of the funds is ‘not enough.’
GOP senators are calling on President Joe Biden to put back a freeze on $6 billion Iranian funds out of concern it could go to fund Hamas terror operations
The White House says there is ‘complicity’ due to Iran’s support for Hamas, but say there are facts that establish the Saturday operation
Signing onto the letter are Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), as well as Minority Whip Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
They are demanding the administration rescind waivers that allowed for the funding to be transferred to Qatar under a deal that freed five Americans who were being held in Iran.
The deal got completed last month. Following the Hamas attack on Israel, the Biden administration was forced to explain that the funding, which was already controversial, had not yet been released.
Signing onto the letter are Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), as well as Minority Whip Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In public comments this week, the administration has walked a delicate line – saying they had no information pointing to Iranian support for the attack, while acknowledging its past support for Hamas and for terror groups.
‘There’s a degree of complicity here, but Iran has been supporting Hamas for many, many years – tools, training, capabilities – certainly rhetorically but in more much more tangible ways than that,’ said White House national security spokesman John Kirby. ‘So, absolutely, there’s a degree of complicity here writ large.’
‘That said, we haven’t – and we are looking through the information streams. We haven’t seen hard, tangible evidence that Iran was directly involved in participating in or resourcing and planning these sets of complex attacks that Hamas pulled off over the weekend,’ he said.
He said the administration was ‘going to keep looking at it. Our Israeli counterparts are also actively looking, and even they have publicly said they don’t see the quote, unquote smoking gun.’
Kirby and other officials have refused to confirm a Wall Street Journal story that Iran helped plan the attack and gave the go-ahead during a Beirut meeting last Monday.
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