Democratic Senators are joining Republicans in calling on the Biden administration to refreeze the $6 billion in Iranian assets that were released last month after Hamas attacked Israel.
On Tuesday, Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, expressed his support for freezing the $6 billion in Iranian assets on the social media platform X.
“As American intelligence officials investigate the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas, we should review our options to hold Iran accountable for any support they may have provided,” the senator said. “At a minimum, we should immediately freeze the $6 billion in Iranian assets and explore other financial tools at our disposal.”
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Another Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia, also expressed his support for refreezing the $6 billion in assets, telling Politico on Tuesday, “I wasn’t supportive of the initial $6 billion transfer. We should absolutely freeze these Iranian assets while considering additional sanctions.”
Manchin did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital regarding the matter.
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Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In September, the Biden administration reached a deal with Iran to swap prisoners and release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds.
As part of the deal, Iran released five American citizens detained in Iran, and the U.S. released five Iranian citizens being held in the U.S. The deal also included a waiver to transfer the $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar without violating U.S. sanctions.
It is important to note that none of the money went directly to Iran, and no U.S. taxpayer funds were reportedly used.
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Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The release of the funds occurred nearly a month prior to the massive and deadly attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists. Republicans in both the House and Senate are criticizing the Biden administration for what they view as a “false and misleading” move.
Shortly after the attacks, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, said in a statement, “Just weeks ago, the Biden administration handed over $6 billion to Iran, and today, innocent Israelis were murdered by Iran-backed terrorists. We must continue to support our strongest ally in the Middle East and their right to defend themselves against these unprovoked, horrific attacks.”
The administration assures that the money can only be used for humanitarian purposes and that the U.S. will oversee how and when the funds are used.
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Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, informed reporters that “not a dollar” of the money has been spent.
However, critics argue that the funds can be redirected elsewhere. Iran is known to support Hamas and has praised the attacks on Israel. The State Department has previously stated that
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