FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims during the vice presidential debate

See the takeaways from last night’s VP debate: Vance and Walz keep it civil in a policy-heavy discussion.

The vice presidential candidates, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, on Tuesday engaged in a fast-moving, largely civil debate on a wide range of issues. Here’s a look at some false and misleading claims from the debate.

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Iran has not received $100 billion in unfrozen assets under the Biden-Harris administration

VANCE: “Iran, which launched this attack, has received over $100 billion in unfrozen assets thanks to the Kamala Harris administration. What do they use that money for? They use it to buy weapons that they’re now launching against our allies.”

THE FACTS: The Biden administration agreed last year to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian assets as part of a deal to free five U.S. citizens being held by Iran. But administration officials say not a dollar of that has yet been given to Iran. It was part of a deal negotiated by the Obama administration, before Biden and Harris took office, that could have allowed Iran to access frozen assets in exchange for accepting limits on its nuclear program.

In 2016, Iran said it had received access to more than $100 billion worth of frozen overseas assets following the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers. The money had been held in banks in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey since international sanctions were tightened in 2012 over Tehran’s nuclear program. Then-Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress that only about $50 billion of the frozen assets would actually be accessible by Iran.

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