World
US frees up billions in sanctions relief to Iran as Tehran proxies wreak havoc in region
White House national security advisor John Kirby on Friday said the funds from a sanction waiver extended this week by the Biden administration to permit Iraq to purchase energy from Iran will not go to its “mullahs.”
“None of this money goes to the mullahs. None of this money goes into Tehran. The sanctions relief that is provided actually goes to vendors that provide humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people,” he told Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, during a Friday press briefing. “Not only do the Iraqi people not suffer because of this, the Iranian people aren’t going to suffer because of this.”
“That allows for Iraq to be able to work its way off of Iranian energy so that they can keep the lights on,” Kirby said.
The Biden administration on Thursday came under criticism after it again extended a sanction waiver despite repeated pushback from those concerned that Iran could misuse the funds.
In an email to Fox News Digital, a State Department spokesperson said, “Under these waivers, no money has been permitted to enter Iran.”
A huge mural of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei Iran’s Supreme Leader painted next to a smaller one of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (R) is seen on Motahari street on March 8, 2020, in Tehran, Iran. The message on the wall reads, “The power and influence and dignity of America in the world is on the fall and extermination,” and on top of the building, another slogan reads, “We are standing till the end.” (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
BIDEN ADMIN UNDER PRESSURE TO STOP BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SANCTIONS RELIEF TO IRAN
“Money goes straight to the trusted vendor or financial institution in another country. The money never touches Iran,” the spokesman added in reference to the reported $10 billion in Iraqi payments held in an escrow account.
The extension was renewed just six weeks after three U.S. service members were killed in Jordan, and more than 30 others injured, in a drone attack by Iran-backed militia in Iraq.
Despite the administration’s assurances that the sanction waiver has not enabled Tehran to access direct funds, critics of the move remain skeptical.
“This waiver helped subsidize the murder of three American soldiers in Jordan and non-stop attacks on the U.S. Navy and American-owned ships in the Red Sea,” Richard Goldberg, a Senior Advisor with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said in a statement on Thursday. “Continuing to give Iran access to billions will only further fuel terrorism, missile proliferation and nuclear escalation.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi brought renewed criticism to the waiver after a September agreement that saw the release of five American prisoners in exchange for five Iranian citizens and Washington’s unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian oil assets previously locked up under U.S. sanctions.
Recent reports claim the U.S. is close to a deal with Iran that would free U.S. citizens held in Iran and also delay Iran’s nuclear program. (Photo by Probst/ullstein bild via Getty Images; Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
ISRAEL’S ‘SWORN ENEMY’ HEZBOLLAH TELLS IRAN IT WOULD FIGHT ALONE IF CONFLICT ESCALATES
In a claim during an NBC interview, Raisi said the funds would be used “wherever we need it.”
“This money belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money,” Raisi told NBC’s Lester Holt. “Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people needs, so this money will be budgeted for those needs and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government.”
A spokesperson for the State Department told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the funds incurred under Iraqi energy imports are held in “restricted accounts” that can only be used “for the purchase of food, medicine, medical devices, agricultural products, and other non-sanctionable transactions.”
“There is no ‘sanctions relief’ in the Iraq electricity waiver,” the spokesman added. “Any suggestion that this waiver sends money to Iran, to support its terrorism or for any other reason, is wholly inaccurate.”
The Biden administration’s actions remove about six million acres of potentially oil-rich leases from an upcoming federal lease sale. (Getty Images)
The sanction waiver has remained a continuing practice since the Trump administration first implemented it as Iraq looks to cut its energy reliance on Iran.
Iraq has reportedly cut its dependence on Iranian energy imports by more than half since 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The United States and China will discuss guardrails on artificial intelligence, including establishing a protocol for keeping powerful A.I. models out of the hands of nonstate actors, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday.
Mr. Bessent, who was speaking from Beijing in an interview with CNBC, did not give more details, including when these discussions would take place. But Xi Jinping, China’s leader, and President Trump had been expected to discuss A.I. during their summit in the Chinese capital.
If these talks happen, it would be the first time the two countries formally take up the issue during Mr. Trump’s second term. The capabilities and usage of A.I. have grown rapidly, and so have concerns that this technology could be weaponized by hackers and terrorists, or spiral out of human control.
“The two A.I. superpowers are going to start talking,” Mr. Bessent said. “We’re going to set up a protocol in terms of, how do we go forward with best practices for A.I. to make sure nonstate actors don’t get ahold of these models.”
Still, Mr. Bessent made clear that the fierce competition between the United States and China for supremacy in A.I. — which has been a major hurdle to cooperation on safety — remained front of mind for U.S. policymakers. Officials and experts in both countries have argued that they cannot slow technological development and risk losing out to their rivals.
Mr. Bessent said that the United States was willing to cooperate with China on A.I. safety because “the Chinese are substantially behind us” in terms of the technology’s development.
“I do not think we would be having the same discussions if they were this far ahead of us. So we’re going to put in U.S. best practices, U.S. values, on this, and then roll those out to the world,” Mr. Bessent said.
Experts have suggested that China’s A.I. models may be a few months behind the leading U.S. models.
Another hurdle to the United States and China working together on A.I. safety is that they have generally focused on different potential threats.
American experts have generally highlighted existential risks, such as the possibility of artificial general intelligence, or super-intelligence that exceeds that of humans. Chinese researchers and officials have more often highlighted risks related to social stability and information control, such as the possibility of chatbots producing content that challenges China’s leadership and policies.
Still, researchers in both countries have highlighted some shared risks, such as the possibility of A.I. being used to develop new biological weapons.
Ship SEIZED near UAE coast, UK military says
Iranian forces seized a vessel 38 nautical miles off the UAE coast early Thursday, a brazen provocation occurring just as President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Beijing discussing key issues like the Strait of Hormuz.
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A ship was seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday morning, the British military reported.
The ship was boarded and “taken by unauthorized personnel” while it was roughly 38 nautical miles northeast of the United Arab Emirates’ oil export terminal Fujairah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported Thursday.
UKMTO spotted the ship heading toward Iranian territorial waters after the seizure, it reported Thursday.
British authorities did not release information on who the ship belonged to or who seized it. Despite the lack of official corroboration, the BBC reported that the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan was seized in the Strait on Thursday.
CARGO SHIP ATTACKED BY SMALL CRAFT NEAR STRAIT OF HORMUZ, UK MARITIME AGENCY SAYS
Ships are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on May 4. A report on May 15 said a ship was seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and is being brought toward Iranian waters. (Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/AFP)
Citing the risk-management company Vanguard, the BBC reported that the ship’s operators told Vanguard that the Hui Chuan was operating as a “floating armory” for ships in the Strait to defend themselves from pirates.
A container ship sits at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, as a motorboat passes in the foreground on May 2, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
At least two other ships have already been seized in the Strait of Hormuz since February.
IRAN SAYS ITS SMALL SUBS DEPLOYED TO STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS EXPERT EXPLAINS THREAT: ‘VULNERABLE TO DETECTION’
A cargo ship sails in the Persian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz on April 22, 2026. (AP Photo)
In April, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized the Panamanian-flagged MSC Francesca and the Epaminondes ships in the Strait.
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Fox News Digital contacted UKMTO and Vanguard for further information but did not immediately receive a response.
Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo reports from Washington, where the first of two days of US-mediated ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon concluded on Thursday. A ceasefire between them expires on Sunday, though Israel has killed 512 Lebanese since its implementation on April 17.
Published On 15 May 2026
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