U.S. Treasury Weighs Using Frozen Iranian Assets to Compensate Gulf Allies for War Damage

U.S. Gulf allies recover from damage caused by Iran during the current war. A source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's thinking told CBS News on Saturday that the department intends to utilize all available authorities to make Iranian assets accessible for rebuilding and repair efforts related to any future damage inflicted by Iran.

The same source said Bessent has directed the Treasury to seek comprehensive estimates from Gulf allies of the costs associated with repairing damage caused by Iran since the conflict began. The Treasury will also evaluate whether Iranian assets could be used to help finance repairs for damage already sustained by Gulf allies during the conflict, the source added.

It remains unclear which Iranian assets would be used, for example Iranian cash in frozen bank accounts or hard assets such as oil tankers.

Since the war broke out in late February, Iran has launched intermittent missile and drone strikes on all the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, CBS News reported.

U.S. And Iran, the New York Post reported. U.S. and Iran, Tehran has insisted that any deal would require the lifting of sanctions to allow the release of billions of dollars in Iranian frozen assets abroad.

The source did not provide a dollar amount for the program.