Trump frozen Iranian assets threat draws anger from Tehran
Iran condemned Trump’s plan to use frozen assets for ship damage claims as US-Iran fighting strains Gulf shipping.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Iran has condemned a Trump frozen Iranian assets proposal after the US president said Washington could use Iranian money it controls to cover damage to ships and cargo in the Strait of Hormuz. The dispute adds a financial front to a widening US-Iran confrontation that has already cut tanker traffic through one of the world’s key maritime chokepoints, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.
US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday that any damages would be paid with “Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls.” He said the costs could be “very substantial” and called that approach “fair and equitable.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected the idea in a post on X on Friday morning. He said using another country’s assets for “unrelated future claims” would create what he called an “incendiary precedent,” warning that normalising confiscation would put assets at risk and lead to disorder.
What did Trump say about frozen Iranian assets?
Trump said the United States would use Iranian funds under US control to pay for damage to vessels and cargo in the Strait of Hormuz, according to his Truth Social post cited by Al Jazeera and Reuters. He made the statement as Washington and Tehran traded attacks and as shipping through the waterway slowed sharply.
Frozen Iranian assets are funds or property blocked by foreign governments, which prevents Iran from accessing or moving them. The exact total is not known, though Al Jazeera reported that some estimates put the value at about $100bn.
The United States first froze Iranian funds in 1979 after US citizens were taken hostage at the US embassy in Tehran, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. The frozen-assets issue was also part of discussions tied to a memorandum of understanding signed by Tehran and Washington in June as a possible route to ending the war, but that agreement has since collapsed.
US-Iran fighting spreads across the region
Al Jazeera reported that the United States completed its 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran late Thursday. Trump also said he was considering a “massive attack” on Iran that would be “bigger than ever before.”
On Thursday, Trump also threatened “major military punishment” for Iran and its Houthi allies after Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. On Friday morning, Iran’s army said in a statement carried by the state-run Mehr News Agency that it had launched a new wave of drone attacks on US military installations in Bahrain and Jordan.
The fighting is affecting shipping in the Gulf. Ship-tracking data seen by Reuters showed that only one tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, the lowest level since May 7.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Disruptions there can matter beyond the region because the route is used by tankers carrying oil and other cargo.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.