Nevada Sen. Cortez Masto Joins Call to Freeze Iranian Assets

Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto Wednesday joined calls on the Biden Administration to freeze $6 billion in Iranian funds after the country showed support for the Hamas attacks in Israel.

The Nevada lawmaker follows the efforts of 20 Senate Republicans, Democratic senators Jon Tester and Joe Manchin as well as her fellow Nevadan Sen. Jacky Rosen.

Rosen is facing a reelection bid in 2024.

“The United States should freeze the $6 billion in Iranian assets in response to Iran’s support for Hamas," Cortez Masto said, as reported by the Nevada Independent. "We must continue to stand with Israel after this terrorist attack.”

The $6 billion in Iranian funds come from a recent prisoner swap negotiation, where five American citizens detained in Iran were released and in return, the assets would become available.

U.S. defense officials have said the funds are only for humanitarian purposes and monitored by third party vendors, and that nothing has been spent yet.

This has been edited to clarify that Cortez Masto's seat is not up for election next year.