ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A bipartisan measure staunchly supported by the Republican party was passed by the US House of Representatives on Thursday entitled No Funds For Iranian Terrorism Act.

The measure would block Iran from “ever” accessing the $6 billion recently transferred by the US in a prisoner swap. It passed with 307 votes in favor compared with 119 against.

Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, retweeted a post on the X social media platform on December 1 that noted that the bill would “permanently” freeze not only the $6 billion held in Qatar but also $10 billion in Iraq electricity waivers.

The resolution will now go to the upper house of the US Congress, the Senate, where it is widely seen as unlikely to be backed by the Democratic majority. Critics of the bill say the funds are already restricted to use for humanitarian needs. 

The US and Iran reached an agreement in August that led to the release of five Americans held by Tehran as well as that of an undisclosed number of Iranians imprisoned in the US. As part of the deal, billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets were transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar. 

However, after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and allied Palestinian groups on the US’s close ally Israel, the US and Qatar agreed that Iran would be temporarily prevented from accessing these funds but did not fully freeze them. 

According to Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg, the “Biden administration claims it froze the $6 billion in Qatar, while Iran claims that’s not true. Meanwhile, no one is commenting on the $10 billion made available from Iraq. Whatever secret deal Iran believes it has with the White House, no agreement was ever submitted to Congress for review. After the October 7 massacre, 75 attacks on U.S. troops, and an attack on a U.S. destroyer, it’s time to lock down all the money made available to Tehran.” 

“There’s a long relationship between Iran and Hamas. In fact, Hamas wouldn’t be around in the way that it is without the support that it’s received from Iran over the years,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in commenting on the October. 7 attack by Hamas and others on Israel, but noted that he had not seen any evidence of it having directed this specific attack.