WASHINGTON (WV News) — U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito are both supporting efforts to freeze Iranian assets amid growing tensions in the Middle East.

Capito, D-W.Va., joined with colleagues in backing the Revoke Iranian Funding Act, which aims to stop the release of $6 billion in Iranian funds held in Qatar. Manchin signed on to a letter urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to make freezing the assets an official policy of the U.S. government.

The funds in question were part of an agreement between the U.S. and Iran to secure the release of five imprisoned Americans in September. The Biden administration has said it has agreed to work with Qatar to deny Iran access to the funds.

Denying Iran access to the money would prevent it from financing “terrorist attacks against Israel or any other nation,” Capito said.

“Providing a $6 billion credit to Iran, the world leader in state sponsored terrorism, only emboldens our adversaries and weakens the standing of the United States and our allies,” she said. “As Hamas continues their attacks of terror on Israel, supported by Iran, this funding must be unequivocally frozen and general licenses must be rescinded.”

Manchin, D-W.Va., and a bipartisan group of 12 senators encouraged Blinken to deprive Iran of the funds.

“While the U.S. intelligence community continues to assess Iran’s role in the Oct. 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,” the senators wrote. “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.”

Capito, speaking during Senate GOP leadership conference Tuesday, said the U.S. must “stand with Israel against the terrorists.”

“Now we’ve got a lot on our plates,” she said. “We’ve got Ukrainian aid that we need to be serious about and consider and move forward with. And we’ve got the Israeli situation and the fight against terrorism.”

Over the next several weeks lawmakers will consider “different packages” that include aid for Ukraine and Israel, Capito said.

“We’re going to be looking at helping, not just Israel, but also helping in Ukraine and around the world. This is a pivotal tipping point in time, I think. It’s time for us to look not so much inward, but to look outward, because in the end, it’s going to be our own national security.”