Iran's windfall from nuclear deal cut in half by debts
The Peninsula - 12 February, 2016
http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=773970&news_type=Economy&lang=en

Iran gained access to about $ 100 billion in frozen assets when an
international nuclear agreement was implemented last month, but $ 50 billion
of it already was tied up because of debts and other commitments, a U.S.
official said on Thursday.

Stephen Mull, the State Department’s lead coordinator for implementing the
international nuclear agreement with Tehran, also told the House Foreign
Affairs Committee there was no evidence Iran had cheated in the first few
weeks since the deal was implemented.

Mull and John Smith, acting director of the Treasury Department office that
oversees sanctions, faced heated questioning from some members of the
committee, where several Democrats had joined Republican lawmakers in
opposing the nuclear pact that was reached in July.

Many have worried that Iran would cheat on the deal and use unfrozen funds
for action against Israel or to support Islamist militants elsewhere in the
region.

“Of that amount, a significant portion of it, more than $ 50 billion, is
already tied up,” Mull said.

It was the first top-level congressional hearing on the nuclear pact since
Jan. 16, when world powers lifted crippling sanctions against Iran in return
for it compliance with the agreement to curb its nuclear ambitions.

“We seem to be in many instances talking tough about Iran,” said U.S.
Representative Eliot Engel, the panel’s top Democrat, a deal opponent. “In
reality our actions are far away from our rhetoric and that’s a worrisome
thing. We want to make sure that Iran’s feet are held to the fire.”

Many members of the U.S. Congress, where every Republican and a few dozen
Democrats opposed the agreement, have been calling for legislation to impose
new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and human rights
record.

House Republicans have been pushing legislation to restrict the ability of
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, to lift sanctions under the nuclear
pact. One measure passed the House on Feb. 2 almost entirely along party
lines but it has not yet been taken up in the Senate and Obama has promised
a veto.