Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Jacky Rosen, Tammy Baldwin, Bob Casey demand Biden ‘refreeze’ $6B in Iran assets

Five 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, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania 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 said in a statement to The Post.

“Until I have full confidence that Iran did not play a role in these barbaric terrorist attacks on the Israeli people, the United States should freeze the $6 billion dollars in Iranian assets,” Baldwin said in a statement.

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Casey took a different tack, accusing Republicans of “intentionally misleading the American people about this serious matter.”

“None of the sanctions funds have been transferred to Iran,” he said. “These funds should remain frozen until we can determine whether Iran played a role in the attack and what the appropriate US response should be. Attempts to divide the United States in moments like this only bolsters our enemies.”

One aspiring Senate Democrat, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) also backed calls to freeze the $6 billion. 

“Iran has a long and storied track record of malign behavior and supporting terrorism worldwide, including Hamas and Hezbollah,” he said. 

“As we learn more about Iran’s role in these horrific terrorist attacks against Israel, one thing is clear: we should immediately freeze the $6 billion in assets and use available tools to discourage Iran’s illicit conduct. Our ally Israel is at war, and while the conflict continues, we must stand united.”

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. 

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.

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CNN reported Wednesday that US intelligence indicates Iranian government officials were “caught by surprise” by the slaughter, while officials from the Defense and State Departments as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reportedly told senators Tuesday night they have reports that “directly contradict” the Wall Street Journal’s Sunday report of IRGC involvement.

On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) announced he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would introduce legislation preventing Iran from accessing the unfrozen assets.

“Iran is the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism,” Cotton said in a statement. “In addition to funding Hamas’s devastating terrorist attacks against Israel, the regime’s proxies have attacked dozens of American targets in the region in recent years. The Biden administration’s decision to let Iran access the $6 billion immediately freed up other money for the regime to fund its attacks in Israel. The Biden administration should immediately re-freeze the funds.”

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House Republicans have also vowed to probe the unfreezing of the $6 billion and the negotiations leading to the 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.”

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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 17 are missing, with some of that number believed held hostage by Hamas, according to the Biden administration.