WASHINGTON— House Speaker Paul Ryan is calling on the Obama administration to rule out the possibility Iran will be given access to the dollar and the U.S. financial system.
The Wisconsin Republican on Thursday criticized Secretary of State John Kerry for leaving the door open for Tehran to score what he describes as an unprecedented economic windfall as part of sanctions relief from the nuclear deal.
Administration officials have said repeatedly Iran will not get access to the dollar.
But Ryan says Kerry didn’t definitively say no when he had the opportunity to do so earlier this week.
U.S. officials said the Republican concern is misplaced and denied speculation, fueled in part by comments Kerry himself made earlier this week.
 One official stressed, though, that there is only so much the United States can do. That official noted that Tehran’s continuing suspect behavior, particularly with missile tests, may be more responsible for international reluctance to do business with Iran than the remaining U.S. sanctions.
Congressional Republicans called on Kerry Thursday to specifically rule out the possibility that Iran will be given even indirect access to either the dollar or the U.S. financial system.
“The administration should definitively rule out any potential workaround that provides Iran — directly or indirectly — with access to the dollar or the U.S. financial system,” House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said in a statement.
House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., meanwhile, tweeted that “We cannot grant Iran access to the dollar in any form.”
Their comments come after House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce of California introduced a bill that prohibits the administration from allowing the dollar to be used in trade transactions with Iran.
 

Source: Associated Press  , April 21