Ed Royce: “Part of the problem here is that money laundering in Iran has been proven to be tied to their efforts to support…”

“Part of the problem here is that money laundering in Iran has been proven to be tied to their efforts to support international terrorism. The unfortunate case here is what we are debating. Remember, we were originally assured, yes, we can push back on issues like their ballistic missile program, that we can push back on their support for terrorism or on their abject destruction of the human rights of the people inside Iran. We can put pressure on those fronts. We have somehow reached the point at which, despite the testimony of the administration that we were going to be pushing back, the administration feels that any steps we take to assert a position on these fronts is injurious to the relationship with Iran or, in some way, undermines the JCPOA. In terms of Iran, the entire country is designated by our Treasury Department as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern, and not just by our country and not just by our Treasury, but by the international system that looks at these financial systems. They have determined the same with respect to Iran. Secretary of State Kerry and his colleagues in the administration are in the midst of a campaign to reassure foreign firms that Iran is open for business. All right. We can trade with Iran, but it is an additional step beyond that to say that Iran is going to have the right to access U.S. dollars.…”