Report: U.S. to Use Frozen Iranian Assets to Help Rebuild the Gulf

The United States will make Iranian assets available to its Gulf allies to support reconstruction and repairs for future damage caused by Iran during the war, a source close to the administration told Reuters overnight, between Saturday and Sunday. It was also reported that the U.S. would consider using these assets to repair earlier damage caused by Iranian attacks, including during the war.

The source added that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent instructed his department's teams to assess and report to him the cost of damage already caused by Iran to the United States' Gulf allies. Last night, The Wall Street Journal reported that the dispute over the release of tens of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets had become one of the main obstacles to an agreement between Washington and Tehran.

In April, it was reported that the U.S. was expected to unfreeze $20 billion in frozen Iranian assets, despite denials from American officials. At the same time, it was reported that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the Oak Ridge nuclear laboratory in Tennessee, which specializes in handling and removing enriched uranium, as part of preparations for negotiations over Iran's enriched uranium stockpile.

The Iranian news agency Mehr reported that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran, and sources told Al Arabiya that he was expected to discuss a mechanism for reaching a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, and that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are handling the exchange of messages between the countries.

Also, over the weekend Iran attacked Kuwait and Bahrain with ballistic missiles and sent drones toward the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in response that the United States struck two Iranian radar sites on Qeshm Island and in the town of Gorok on the coast of the Persian Gulf. According to the command's statement, Iran launched four drones toward the strait and three ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain. The drones and two of the missiles were intercepted, the U.S. military said, and one missile fell without reaching its target.