Ernst, Rosen Lead Bipartisan Group Pushing Biden to Freeze Iranian Assets

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and co-chairs of the Senate Abraham Accords Caucus, are leading a bipartisan group of senators in urging the Biden administration to make it the official policy of the United States to freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets in the wake of Hamas’s deadly terrorist attacks on Israel.

In September of this year, the Biden State Department announced its intention to release these assets to Iran. Given Iran’s long-standing material and financial support for Hamas, the senators are pushing the Biden administration to officially reverse its poor decision.

“Given Iran’s history of supporting acts of terrorism through Hamas, the United States must do everything in its power in the wake of this brutal attack to ensure that Iran is not in a position to continue funding Hamas’ terrorist activities in Israel and throughout the Middle East,” wrote the senators. “As you know, the State Department’s 2021 Country Report on Terrorism found that Hamas received weapons systems and other direct support from Iran, allowing the group to carry out deadly attacks against Israel. In 2022, Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, stated publicly that the terrorist organization had received $70 million in assistance from Iran that year, and that it used the money to build rockets.”

“While the U.S. intelligence community continues to assess Iran’s role in the October 7 terrorist attacks, it is clear that Iran’s support for Hamas has sustained the terrorist group, ensuring that Hamas had the means to carry out their abhorrent attack on Israel,” they continued. “We therefore strongly urge you to make it official U.S. policy to freeze the $6 billion in Iranian assets currently held in Qatar, and continue to hold Iran accountable for its violent and destabilizing actions, including direct support of Hamas.”

Senators Ernst and Rosen were joined by Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.). Read the full letter HERE.

Background:

As co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, Ernst led the DEFEND Act to strengthen the work of the Accords by combatting attacks from Iranian-backed extremists through air and missile defense capabilities, which was passed into law. This year, she led the bipartisan MARITIME Act to unite Middle East partners against Iranian maritime threats, which wasincluded as a provision in the Senate-passed National Defense Authorization Act.

In April, Ernst and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led a bipartisan push demanding President Biden enforce much-needed sanctions on Iranian oil and gas shipments. She followed up with a bipartisan, bicameral letter to President Biden demanding a response to Iranian threats against Americans and American companies that prevented the transfer of seized oil from the Suez Rajan tanker off the coast of Texas for months. Following her advocacy, the illicit oil began being transferred.

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