Iran has informed the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it will expel some of the team which inspects Iranian facilities for evidence of nuclear weapons just days after the U.S. allowed the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian assets. The Biden Administration informed Congress on September 11 that it had issued waivers to foreign banks to unfreeze the assets and transfer them to Qatar where Iran can have access in exchange for the release of 5 Americans held in Iran. Despite assurances that the funds can only be used for “non-sanctionable transactions,” critics of the deal say that it encourages “bad behavior by the Iranians.” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the unfrozen money will be used “wherever we need it.” IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said, “With today’s decision, Iran has effectively removed about one third of the core group of the Agency’s most experienced inspectors designated for Iran.”
