U.S. Reportedly Considering Using Frozen Iranian Assets To Finance Rebuilding In Gulf Allies
The U.S. is reportedly considering using frozen Iranian assets to finance the rebuilding by Gulf allies who sustained damages resulting from the country’s strikes.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent directed a team to assess the cost of damages sustained by allied countries in the Gulf, CNBC noted.
The development comes shortly after a top Iranian official said a deal with the U.S. is contingent on the unfreezing of funds. “The negotiations are at a deadlock and President Donald Trump must break this deadlock,” Mohsen Rezaei, adviser to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN.
He went on to say that if Trump “wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump – this is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened.” “This is our own money, not America’s money,” he added.
Elsewhere in the interview, Rezaei threatened to “drag the war” beyond the gulf if the U.S. resumes strikes. “We will give another dimension to the war by attacking these other American bases that we have been attacking so far,” he said, noting however that the “possibility of war is low.”
Rezaei also rejected any chance of a meeting between Trump and Khamenei, saying “right now we are in the first stage of negotiations and Mr. Trump has brought the negotiations to a standstill.”
Trump, on his end, said he would be “honored” to meet with Khamenei it were to finalize a deal. “If we make a deal, it’s possible that I would meet,” Trump told press. “I’d be okay with that.”
He went on to say that he would expect Khamenei to behave like a “professional” in such a scenario despite the war, in which his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the conflict’s initial strikes.
Hostilities have continued in the meantime. Both countries changed new strikes across the Gulf on Friday. U.S. forces said they intercepted four Iranian “one-way attack drones” that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the drones posed an immediate threat to maritime traffic in the area. Following the interceptions, U.S. forces carried out strikes on Iranian coastal surveillance radar installations in Goruk and on Qeshm Island in southern Iran, according to CENTCOM and multiple media reports. BBC News reported the strikes were conducted as a defensive response aimed at preventing further attacks.
Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles toward U.S. military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain. Iran’s state-run IRIB news agency said the targets included two US air bases in Kuwait and facilities associated with the US Navy in Bahrain. CENTCOM said seven missiles were launched, with six intercepted and one failing to reach its intended target. U.S. officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties among American personnel. Reuters cited US military statements describing the attack and interception effort.
