US to Transfer Frozen Iranian Assets to Gulf Allies Washington is turning Iran’s money into a weapon of financial warfare, proposing to spend frozen Iranian assets not in Tehran, but on repairing Gulf infrastructure damaged in strikes linked to Iran.

On one side, US officials frame it as a hard-nosed shift in accountability. According to reports, the Treasury Department plans to use “all available authorities” to make Iranian assets accessible for rebuilding and repair efforts connected to “any future damage caused by Iran,” while also weighing claims for “past damage” blamed on Iranian-backed groups. Bloomberg and CBS reporting, relayed via Russian outlet RT, say Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has ordered an assessment of conditions among US allies in the Persian Gulf and demanded detailed estimates of damage since the conflict began. Another account describes it more blandly as a US move to “make Iranian assets accessible to its allies in the Persian Gulf,” directly benefiting regional partners.

On the other side, Iran insists the money is simply its own — and the key to any deal. Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has reportedly stressed that a settlement “hinges on the release of $24 billion in Iranian assets,” calling it “our own money, not America’s money” and a test of trust for Donald Trump. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has been quoted demanding at least $12 billion be released immediately after any memorandum of understanding, with the rest within “not more than one or two months.”

The contrast is stark: Washington wants to turn frozen assets into a regional compensation fund; Tehran sees them as the entry ticket to peace — and proof the US can be trusted to stop treating Iran’s balance sheet like a battlefield.