Three Senate Democrats who are up for re-election next year are urging President Biden to reinstate a hold on $6 billion worth of Iranian assets that had been unfrozen as part of a prisoner swap announced last month.
Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana and Jacky Rosen of Nevada have joined scores of congressional Republicans demanding the reversal.
“I wasn’t supportive of the initial $6 billion transfer. We should absolutely freeze these Iranian assets while we also consider additional sanctions,” Manchin told The Post in a statement.
“As American intelligence officials continue to investigate the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas, we should review our options to hold Iran accountable for any support they may have provided,” added Tester.
“At a minimum, we should immediately freeze the $6 billion in Iranian assets and explore other financial tools we have at our disposal. Moving forward, we need to ensure our ally Israel can defend itself from these ongoing deadly attacks against its civilians.”
“In light of Hamas’s violent and horrific terrorist attack on Israel and Iran’s long-standing support for Hamas, we should freeze these assets,” Rosen told Politico.
The Biden administration has insisted Iran would only be able to use the money for humanitarian purposes, while critics have pointed out that any additional funding frees up Tehran to spend more on equipping its terrorist proxies in the Middle East, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
“We have not yet had a dollar of that $6 billion spent. And I will leave it at that,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday.
The White House has called Iran “complicit” in Saturday’s deadly terror attack by Hamas, but has pushed back on reports that Iranian officials helped plan and approve the slaughter that has killed at least 1,200 in Israel.
Another Democratic incumbent facing tough re-election odds in 2024 — Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio — stopped short of demanding those assets be refrozen.
“I am speaking with my colleagues, the administration, the Israeli government, and the Jewish community in Ohio and across the country to assess the next steps, looking at every tool available to support Israel and defeat Hamas,” Brown told Politico when asked.
On Monday, 20 Republican senators signed off on a letter to Biden demanding the Iranian assets be refrozen.
“Oversight over the use of this $6 billion is not enough,” they wrote. “The State Department should immediately rescind the waivers that allowed Iranian funds to be converted and moved to more accessible bank accounts, as well as work with US ally Qatar to immediately freeze the accounts containing these funds.”
House Republicans have also vowed to probe the unfreezing of the $6 billion and the negotiations leading to exchange of five American detainees for five Iranian prisoners.
Republican presidential candidate and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suggested taking the $6 billion in Iranian assets and giving it to Israel.
“Look at what the Iranian people, the Iranian regime has done to threaten Israel over the years,” she told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “They are moving money around to threaten those they hate.”
Former President Donald Trump also made a similar demand of the Biden administration.
“CROOKED JOE BIDEN MUST TAKE BACK AND FREEZE THE 6 BILLION DOLLARS RIGHT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday. “HOW COULD ANYONE BE SO INCOMPETENT AND STUPID? BIDEN CAUSED THIS WAR, AND IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE!!!”
Biden has affirmed his support for Israel, which has pummeled the Gaza Strip with airstrikes ahead of a likely ground invasion.
At least 22 Americans have been killed in the violence and “20 or more” are believed unaccounted for, according to the Biden administration.