The Obama administration will not give Iran direct access to U.S. dollars or the U.S. financial system even as it works to ensure Iran gets relief from the lifting of economic sanctions, a senior official testified on April 5.
Republican lawmakers who opposed last year's Iran nuclear deal with world powers have expressed concern about recent reports that the administration might let Iran use the dollar in some business transactions allowed under the deal.
But Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon denied those reports before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
At the same time, he confirmed that the administration plans to reassure foreign banks seeking to do business with Iran about where they stand relative to U.S. law.
"As Iran attempts to access money being made available to it through the lifting of sanctions, there will be instances in which we have had to help Iran access that money by clarifying regulations under which money can be transferred to them," he said.
"We have found that as Iran seeks those funds, there are banks unclear of the nature of the regulatory structures and what sanctions have been lifted and what have not."