According to a source familiar with the matter, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Vance has instructed a team to assess the extent of the damage inflicted by Iran on its Gulf allies.
The source indicated that the U.S. is considering utilizing Iranian assets not only for the reconstruction costs of potential future damage from Iranian attacks but also for the recovery of damages that have already occurred. However, the Treasury Department did not specify which types of assets are under consideration.
Reuters reported that the discussions do not appear to be limited to frozen Iranian assets.
This initiative is noteworthy as it arises amid Iran's demands for the release of its frozen assets. Instead of accommodating Iran's request, the U.S. is contemplating using those assets to fund the recovery efforts of Gulf allies.
Earlier, Mohsen Rezai, a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, stated in an interview with CNN, "If President Trump wants to reach an agreement with Iran, $24 billion is a test of trust. This is a test that the U.S. must pass, and then the way will be opened." He emphasized, "This money is not America's money; it is our money."
Given the challenges the U.S. faces in fully accommodating Iran's asset release demands, this proposal may also be seen as a new leverage point in negotiations. The U.S. is concerned that releasing frozen funds without achieving significant progress on Iran's nuclear program could weaken its negotiating position.
President Trump has criticized the Obama administration for providing cash to Iran as part of the nuclear agreement, making a large-scale release of frozen funds politically sensitive.
Reuters analyzed that if the U.S. moves forward with utilizing Iranian assets for the recovery of Gulf nations, it could introduce new sources of conflict in the already unstable ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
Indeed, military tensions between the two countries continued over the weekend. U.S. forces shot down a drone launched by Iran and subsequently struck coastal radar bases near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have launched ballistic missile attacks against U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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