Some Democratic Senators are joining Republicans in calling on the Biden administration to refreeze $6 billion in Iranian assets released last month, after Hamas attacked Israel.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, posted about his support for freezing $6 billion in Iranian assets on social media platform X on Tuesday.
“As American intelligence officials continue to investigate terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas, we must evaluate our options to hold Iran accountable for any support they may have provided,” said senator “At a minimum, we should immediately freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets and explore other financial tools we have at our disposal.”
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Another Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., told Politico on Tuesday that he, too, supported refreezing $6 billion in assets.
“I do not support the initial $6 billion transfer,” he told the publication. “We must completely freeze Iranian assets while we also consider additional sanctions.”
Manchin did not immediately respond to questions from Fox News Digital about the matter.
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Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In September, the Biden administration struck a deal with Iran to exchange prisoners and release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds.
As part of the deal, Iran released five American citizens imprisoned in Iran and the US released five Iranian citizens imprisoned in the US The deal also created a blanket waiver to move $6 billion in Iranian frozen funds from South Korea towards Qatar without fear of violation. US sanctions.
None of the money went directly to Iran and no US taxpayer funds were reportedly used.
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Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The unfreezing of the money came nearly a month before Hamas terrorists launched a massive, deadly attack on Israel on Saturday, and Republicans in the House and Senate tore into the Biden administration, calling the this step is “false and misleading.”
“Just weeks ago, the Biden administration gave $6 billion to Iran, and now, innocent Israelis are being murdered by Iranian-backed terrorists,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., in a statement after the attacks. “We must continue to support our strongest allies in the Middle East and their right to defend themselves against these unprovoked, despicable attacks.”
The administration said the money could only be used for humanitarian purposes and that the US would have oversight of how and when the funds were used.
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Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, told reporters that “not one dollar” of money had been spent.
However, critics say the funds could be diverted to other areas. Iran is a known supporter of Hamas and has praised the attacks on Israel. The State Department has revealed in the past that Iran provides about $100 million a year to Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Adam Shaw and Bradford Betz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
