FT: The US wants to use frozen Iranian assets to help Gulf countries hit by Iranian attacks

The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants to use Iranian assets to help Gulf countries hit by Tehranʼs attacks, seeking to limit the impact of war on US allies in the Middle East.

This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.

Bessentʼs initiative came after sustained attacks on Washingtonʼs closest allies in the region, including Kuwait and Bahrain, prompted US forces to strike Iranian targets, despite a fragile truce between the US and Iran.

Relations between the United States and its key partners in the Persian Gulf have deteriorated due to the protracted conflict and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas exports from the region.

“The Treasury Department will use all available tools to make Iranian assets available to our Gulf allies and support recovery and repair from any future damage caused by Iran,” a senior Trump administration official told the Financial Times.

According to him, Bessent instructed his team to assess the situation in the Persian Gulf countries and prepare comprehensive cost estimates for repairing the damage Iran has caused since the start of the war.

"The Ministry of Finance will also consider using Iranian assets to compensate and repair damages previously incurred," the official added.

The idea of using Iranian assets — including up to $100 billion in frozen funds stored in various countries around the world — to rebuild the Gulf states came amid discussions between the United States and Iran about the possible return of some of this money to Tehran as part of a potential peace deal.

But the talks have yet to yield a breakthrough, and military tensions continue to rise. This week, Iran launched missiles at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Six of them were intercepted, while the seventh missed its target.

The US shot down four Iranian strike drones on June 5 that were “posing an imminent threat to regional maritime traffic” in the Strait of Hormuz, and two more on June 6. The US military also struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar stations in Goruk and on Qeshm Island.

War in the Middle East and negotiations between Iran and the US

On the morning of February 28, the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. These attacks killed Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and almost the entire military leadership of the country — about 40 key high-ranking officials.

Iran, in response to the US and Israeli attacks, began shelling Arab countries where US bases are located, and Israel. The war also halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea corridor between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean. It was through it that almost a fifth of the worldʼs oil exports passed — tens of millions of barrels per day.

On April 8, the parties agreed to a two-week ceasefire. On April 13, the United States began a naval blockade of Iranian ports, demanding the complete unblocking of the Strait of Hormuz for all ships.

On April 17, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a ceasefire, after which Iran unblocked the Strait of Hormuz. However, on April 18, Iran reported that it was again blocking the Strait of Hormuz due to the US naval blockade. On the same day, Iran fired on several ships attempting to pass through the strait.

The United States and Iran have been exchanging blows periodically in recent weeks, but neither side has claimed to have violated the ceasefire, which remains in effect. In particular, on June 3, Iranian drones struck an airport in Kuwait, killing one person and suspending commercial flights. Iran said it struck a US base in Kuwait.

Oil prices rose again as the conflict in the Middle East escalated during talks between Tehran and Washington.

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