① The U.S. government is considering using Iran’s frozen assets to repair and rebuild damage in the Gulf region caused by Iranian attacks and to address potential future destruction; ② According to informed sources, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has directed his team to assess the associated costs; ③ Recently, mutual attacks between the U.S. and Iran have again disrupted negotiations between the two sides, and peace talks now appear to have stalled.
Caixin Global, June 7 (Editor Zhou Ziyi) — A source familiar with the matter said on Saturday (June 6) that the U.S. government is exploring the use of Iran’s frozen assets for Gulf countries to repair and rebuild infrastructure damaged by Iranian attacks and to prepare for possible future destruction.
The source, described as a senior government official not authorized to speak publicly, indicated that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has instructed a team to evaluate the costs associated with damages inflicted by Iran on its Gulf allies. He added that the U.S. is also considering using Iranian assets to fund these restoration efforts.
The official also stated that the Treasury Department will examine whether Iran’s assets could be used to compensate for the monarch’s losses, including expenses related to repairing oil infrastructure targeted years ago by Iran and its affiliated groups.
However, the official did not specify the types of assets under review by the Treasury Department, and the language used to describe the new measures appears not to be limited solely to frozen assets.
This announcement came one day after Mohsen Rezaei, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, revealed that reaching a U.S.-Iran peace agreement hinges on whether the United States unfreezes $24 billion in Iranian assets currently held by the U.S.
According to Iran’s semi-official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), despite a Pakistani mediation envoy’s minister traveling to Tehran on Saturday to deliver a letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, peace negotiations appear to have stalled.
Ceasefire Agreement Hits Another Impasse
The threat of transferring Iranian assets could add fresh tension to the fragile ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran. Over the weekend, renewed mutual attacks between the two countries once again tested their negotiation process.
Earlier on Saturday, U.S. forces shot down drones launched by Iran and struck Iranian coastal radar sites on the islands of Gruk and Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command, which stated that the drones posed a threat to maritime traffic.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that it had carried out retaliatory strikes against U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwaiti forces said on Saturday that they intercepted seven ballistic missiles flying over residential areas, causing material damage but no casualties; in Bahrain, air raid sirens prompted residents to seek shelter.
In recent months, the United States and Iran have been engaged in indirect negotiations aimed at reaching a temporary agreement to end the three-month-long war, leaving issues such as Iran’s nuclear program for further talks. However, sporadic clashes between the two sides have continued, making an agreement elusive.
Iran seeks access to oil revenues, exemptions from sanctions on crude oil exports, the lifting of the U.S. blockade on its ports, and freedom of action in the Strait of Hormuz.
On the U.S. side, Trump is facing growing domestic political pressure to end the unpopular war amid rising energy prices. In a prior interview, Trump stated that although most of Iran’s drone and missile manufacturing facilities had been destroyed, Iranians could still deploy roughly one-fifth of their missile arsenal.
Editor/Rocky