The U.S. government will attempt to redirect Iranian assets to Gulf states for rebuilding and repairs of future damage caused by Iran, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday, a day after a wave of attacks by Iran against Kuwait and Bahrain.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also directed a team to assess costs for damage already inflicted on Gulf allies by Iran, with the U.S. considering using Iranian assets for those repairs as well.
The source did not specify what kind of assets the Treasury was examining, and the language used did not appear limited to frozen assets.
The disclosure came a day after Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN that a peace deal hinged on the release of $24 billion in Iranian assets frozen by the United States.
The threatened redirection could create a new irritant to a fragile ceasefire between the two countries, which was tested again this weekend with strikes by both sides.
Strikes And Retaliation
U.S. forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, both in the Strait of Hormuz, early Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran that U.S. Central Command said posed a threat to maritime traffic.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it retaliated against U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait’s army said it engaged seven ballistic missiles that passed over residential areas, resulting in material damage but no casualties.
In Bahrain, sirens sounded and residents were urged to seek shelter. Both countries condemned the strikes.
Iran later said it had hit U.S. bases in both countries with ballistic missiles, but the U.S. military said six missiles were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target.
Peace Talks Stall
The U.S. and Iran have been engaged in largely indirect negotiations for an interim deal to halt the three-month-old war, leaving issues including Iran’s nuclear programme to further negotiations. But a deal has remained elusive while the two sides periodically skirmish.
Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, the lifting of a U.S. blockade on its ports and leverage over the Strait of Hormuz – a waterway that carried about a fifth of global oil traffic before the war.
Trump is facing mounting domestic political pressure due to rising gas prices to bring the unpopular conflict to an end.
He told NBC that while most of Iran’s drone and missile manufacturing facilities had been destroyed, Iran still had access to about a fifth of its missiles. “They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say percentage wise, maybe 21% to 22% of their missiles. It’s a lot of missiles, but it’s not what it was when we first attacked,” Trump said.
Pakistani Minister Lands In Tehran
Peace negotiations appear to have stalled, though a minister from mediator Pakistan travelled to Tehran on Saturday carrying a letter for Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived for talks with Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, saying he was carrying a “special letter” from his country’s army chief and prime minister to Khamenei.
Fighting Flares Across Region
In a parallel conflict in Lebanon, two Lebanese army officers and a soldier were killed in an Israeli strike on a military vehicle in the south, the Lebanese army said. The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.
Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah a condition for any peace deal with Washington.
Lebanon’s army commander, General Rudolf Haykal, left for Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart – a surprise visit notable given Washington’s insistence that ceasefire talks for Lebanon remain separate from U.S.-Iran negotiations mediated by Pakistan.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem this week rejected a U.S.-brokered pact between Israel and the Lebanese government to halt the fighting, as the deal did not provide for an Israeli withdrawal and Hezbollah had not been party to the negotiations.
Israel has said its forces would not withdraw or halt operations in the country amid increasing friction with the U.S.
(with input from Reuters)
