The State Department declined to say Thursday whether House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office was right when it speculated that the Obama administration might ease financial sanctions against Iran on Friday.
Ryan’s office sent out an email saying President Obama may be close to giving Iran “access to the dollar,” which reflecting suspicions that the U.S. might allow some dollar-based transactions between Iran and third-country banks to help boost Iran’s economy.
Iranian officials have been agitating for more economic sanctions relief in recent weeks, and Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with the Iranian foreign minister on Friday. But State Department spokesman John Kirby said he had no comment.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the secretary’s meeting, in particular, or the discussions that will occur in those meetings, or that meeting in particular,” State spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.
“Broadly speaking, I can certainly affirm for you that in these discussions with Foreign Minister [Javad] Zarif tomorrow, I fully expect that they will continue to talk about the sanctions relief process, and the degree to which banks, foreign and domestic, and institutions, foreign and domestic, are evaluating their options under the [Iran deal],” Kirby said.
State has repeatedly insisted that Iran is meeting its commitments under the agreement. Officials have also said they are prepared to give Iran the relief it deserves, and in light of press reports saying access to dollar transactions, speculation has run high among Republicans that Obama is about to go too far.
A Ryan statement Thursday asked, “Is Secretary Kerry about to give Iran access to the dollar this Friday?”
“That’s the question perplexing us following Secretary of State John Kerry’s meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in New York on Tuesday. The two apparently discussed Tehran’s baseless complaint that it deserves access to the U.S. dollar, a request that goes above and beyond the sanctions relief granted under the nuclear deal,” the release from Ryan’s office reads.
Many have speculated that the U.S. might be preparing to allow “U-turn” transactions that would allow currency to be briefly turned into dollars in transactions between Iran and third countries, even though officials have previously said they would not be allowed.
