SOURCE: US EYES IRANIAN ASSETS FOR GULF ALLIES
Treasury secretary directs team to assess costs for damage so far
People ride past a billboard depicting the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the late Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday in Tehran.
MIDDLE EAST
WASHINGTON — The United States government will attempt to redirect Iranian assets to Persian Gulf states for rebuilding and repairs of future damage caused by Iran, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday, after Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also directed a team to assess costs for damage Iran already inflicted on gulf allies, the source said, adding the U.S. will consider using Iranian assets for those repairs as well.
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 source did not specify what kind of assets the Treasury was examining. The language used to describe the new measures did not appear limited to frozen assets.
Peace negotiations appear to have stalled, though a minister from mediator Pakistan traveled Saturday to Tehran with a letter for Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
The threatened redirection of Iranian assets could create a new irritant to a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which was tested again this weekend with strikes by the U.S. and Iran.
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 says 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 Saturday 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. Kuwait and Bahrain condemned the strikes.
Iran later said it 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.
The U.S. and Iran have engaged in largely indirect negotiations for an interim deal that would halt the war but leave issues including Iran's nuclear program to further negotiations. A deal remained elusive while the two sides periodically skirmished.
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.
After the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran attacked gulf states hosting U.S. bases and largely stopped shipping in the strait, through which about a fifth of global oil supplies transited before the war. The conflict drove up oil and gas prices and disrupted supply chains for other goods, including humanitarian aid.
President Donald Trump faces mounting domestic political pressure to end the war. He told NBC that while most of Iran's drone and missile manufacturing facilities were destroyed, Iranians still had access to about a fifth of their 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 told NBC News' "Meet the Press" program, according to excerpts released by the network Friday.
Iranian state media reported that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived Saturday in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Naqvi said he carried a "special letter" from his country's army chief and prime minister to Iran's Khamenei, ISNA reported.
In a parallel conflict, an Israeli strike on a military vehicle killed two Lebanese army officers and a soldier in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said. Israel's military said it was investigating the incident.
Iran made a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah militants a condition for any peace deal with Washington.
Lebanon's army said Saturday its commander, General Rudolf Haykal, left for Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, without giving further details. The visit was notable given Washington and Lebanese leaders insisted that ceasefire talks for Lebanon remain separate from U.S.-Iran negotiations mediated by Pakistan. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem this past week rejected a U.S.-brokered pact between Israel and the Lebanese government to halt the fighting in Lebanon. The deal did not provide for an Israeli withdrawal and Hezbollah was not party to the negotiations.
Israel said its forces would not withdraw or halt operations in the country amid increasing friction with the U.S.
