Moderate Democrats Sens. Jon Tester (MT) and Joe Manchin (WV) both said on Tuesday that the funds need to be frozen in the wake of the horrific terrorist attack on Israel at the hands of Hamas, which has been partially linked to the government of Iran.

“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,” Tester said in a statement. “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,” he added.

Tester serves as the chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Manchin said that he has never supported the Biden administration’s deal to give Iran $6 billion in exchange for Americans taken hostage. “I wasn’t supportive of the initial $6B transfer. We should absolutely freeze these Iranian assets while we also consider additional sanctions,” he said

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