Reuters reports Treasury secretary has ordered cost assessment; scope may extend beyond frozen assets

US and Iran exchange fire over weekend; Pakistan visits Tehran in bid to mediate

Pedestrians cross an intersection in central Tehran, Iran. [AP]
Pedestrians cross an intersection in central Tehran, Iran. [AP]

The United States is pursuing a plan to use Iranian assets to fund reconstruction for Gulf allies damaged in the war, Reuters reported Saturday — just one day after Iran publicly demanded the release of those frozen assets as a condition for a truce deal. The move is widely seen as Washington applying counter-pressure by signaling it may redirect the assets toward compensating its Gulf partners instead.

According to Reuters sources, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already directed his team to calculate the cost of damage Iran has inflicted on Gulf allies. The US is also weighing using Iranian assets to cover not only future reconstruction costs but also damage already sustained. However, the sources did not specify what types of assets the Treasury is examining, and Reuters added that the discussions do not appear to be limited to Iran's frozen assets.

The plan emerged shortly after Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, told CNN that the release of roughly $24 billion in US-frozen Iranian assets was a central condition for any truce agreement. "If President Donald Trump wants to reach a deal with Iran, the $24 billion is a test of trust," Rezaei said. "It is a test the US must pass, and then the path will open."

From Washington's perspective, releasing the frozen funds without meaningful progress on nuclear disarmament risks surrendering key negotiating leverage. The move would also carry significant political costs for Trump, who has long criticized the Barack Obama administration for providing cash to Iran.

Fighting continued over the weekend. US forces struck Iranian coastal radar installations on Goruk and Qeshm islands near the Strait of Hormuz, citing Iranian drone launches that threatened maritime traffic. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired ballistic missiles at US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwaiti military authorities confirmed they intercepted seven ballistic missiles with no casualties, while CENTCOM said it intercepted six Iranian missiles and that the remaining one failed to reach its target.

With truce negotiations at an impasse, mediator Pakistan stepped back in. Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Tehran on Saturday and held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other senior officials. Naqvi said the visit was to personally deliver special letters from Army Chief of Staff Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. If the US moves forward with using Iranian assets to compensate Gulf allies, it could introduce a new source of friction into the already fragile US-Iran truce.


psj@heraldcorp.com