A group of 26 Republican senators raised concerns about the Biden
administration bypassing congressional authority to agree to a nuclear deal
with Iran.

In a letter � signed by the majority of Senate Republicans last week and
addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet
Yellen � the lawmakers voiced concerns with the Biden administration�s recent
prisoner swap that sent $6 billion to the Iranian regime in a �secret
negotiation.�

�When the Obama administration released $400 million in liquidated assets to
Iran in 2016, we warned that this dangerous precedent would put a price on
American lives. Seven years later, the current administration is providing a
ransom payment worth at least fifteen times that amount to the world�s
largest state sponsor of terror, in yet another violation of the United
States� long-standing �no concessions� policy,� the senators wrote.

�The release of such a significant sum to the Iranian regime runs entirely
counter to that claim and will only serve to encourage additional hostage
taking for financial or political gain,� the letter continued.

The letter comes after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-
OH) said earlier this month that the Biden administration�s prisoner swap
with Iran involved a renewed Iran nuclear deal. The New York Times also
reported that the agreement could increase the chances of Biden pursuing his
goal of coming to the table with Iran over nuclear weapons. Last summer,
Biden attempted to renew the Obama administration�s nuclear deal but
ultimately failed. In 2018, former President Donald Trump withdrew from the
agreement he routinely criticized as �horrible� and �one-sided.�

Republican lawmakers expressed their support for seeing American citizens
freed from the tyrannical Iranian regime but expressed concerns that the deal
entails unconstitutional hidden negotiations with the terrorist rulers. Iran
is reportedly on the cusp of starting nuclear weapon testing as their ability
to enrich weapons-grade uranium has dramatically accelerated under the Biden
administration.

�We are also worried that your administration is attempting to sidestep
Congress and pursue other pathways to financially compensate Iran in an
attempt to renegotiate a successor to the ill-fated 2015 nuclear deal,� the
senators wrote. �Any agreement with the Iranian regime that entails financial
reward for malign behavior is wholly unacceptable.�

The senators laid out questions for Blinken and Yellen to answer within 30
days, �[g]iven the risk this agreement poses to the safety of American
citizens overseas and broader United States national security interests.�

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Let's go Brandon!