Proposal comes as relations between Trump administration and regional partners have been strained by conflict
\n Kuwait
\nUS Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is weighing plans to use Iranian assets to pay for the rebuilding of Gulf countries hit by retaliation from Tehran, in a bid to limit the war\u2019s fallout on American allies in the Middle East.
\nBessent\u2019s push comes after continued attacks on America\u2019s closest allies in the Gulf, including Kuwait and Bahrain, prompted US forces to strike Iranian targets despite the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
\nRelations between the US and its top Gulf allies have been strained by the extended conflict and de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for oil and gas shipments in and out of the region.
\n\u201cTreasury will utilise all tools available to allow Iranian assets to be made available to our Gulf allies to support rebuilding and repairs for any future damage caused by Iran,\u201d a senior Trump administration official told the FT on Saturday.
\nThe official added that Bessent had \u201cdirected his team to assess conditions among our Gulf allies and request comprehensive estimates of the costs associated with repairing damage Iran has inflicted since the start of the conflict\u201d.
\n\u201cTreasury will further consider whether Iranian assets could be used to support repairs for past damages,\u201d said the official.
\nThe idea of using Iran\u2019s assets \u2014 including up to $100bn in frozen funds held across a range of countries overseas \u2014 to pay for rebuilding the Gulf comes as Iran and the US have debated whether to release some of that money back to Tehran as part of any peace deal.
\nBut talks have not yielded a breakthrough, and military tensions continue to rise. Iran this week fired missiles at US bases in the nearby Gulf states of Kuwait and Bahrain. Six of them were intercepted, while a seventh did not reach its target.
\nUS Central Command, which oversees military operations against Iran, said its forces shot down four Iranian attack drones that \u201cposed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic\u201d in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and two on Saturday.
\nIt said American forces also struck \u201cIranian coastal surveillance radar sites\u201d in Goruk and on Qeshm Island. \u00a0
\nThe White House and Treasury did not respond to requests for comment, including on the specific Iranian assets the US wanted to use to rebuild the Gulf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Proposal comes as relations between Trump administration and regional partners have been strained by conflict Kuwait US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is weighing plans to use Iranian assets to pay for the rebuilding of Gulf countries hit by retaliation from Tehran, in a bid to limit the war\u2019s fallout on American allies in the Middle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n