Iran assets neither war spoils for US nor payment fund for its allies: Deputy FM

An Iranian deputy foreign minister has voiced Tehran’s objection to reports that the US could use Iran’s assets to compensate regional allies for war-related damages, saying the governments that placed their territory and facilities at the service of aggression against Iran are not in a position to demand reparations.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi made the comment on Sunday after media reports citing sources close to the US Treasury Secretary said Washington is considering a plan that would allow Iranian assets to be used for rebuilding the Persian Gulf countries for future damage. They also said that the Treasury Department is weighing using the funds to support repairs for past damage.

“Iran’s assets are neither war spoils for Washington nor a payment fund for its allies,” he said, warning, “Any seizure, transfer, or allocation of Iran’s property without the consent of the Iranian government is itself a new internationally wrongful act,” Gharibabadi pointed out.

He described the decision as a new brazen act on the part of the US.

“If Washington, as the primary aggressor in the military aggression against Iran, is truly seeking to compensate for damages, it should not get the address wrong: it should start with America itself and with the regime that is the main source of arson, aggression, and instability in the region,” he said.

He added that Iran will not stop to demand accountability from aggressors and will seek and receive damages caused by 40 days of the US-Israeli war, adding, “Iran will seriously pursue this."

He emphasized that certain regional countries had placed their territory and facilities “at the service of aggression against Iran” and were therefore not in no position to demand repatriations.

“Their behavior is subject to international responsibility and the rules concerning participation in wrongful acts and aggression, and they must fully compensate Iran for damages inflicted on it,” Gharibabadi asserted.

For decades, the United States has held billions of dollars of legitimate Iranian wealth: oil revenues, central bank reserves, and commercial assets, seized through illegitimate executive orders and maintained through political pressure.

Days after a ceasefire halted the joint US-Israeli aggression on Iran that began on February 28, the question of Iran's frozen assets emerged as the central test of American sincerity at the negotiating table.

Iran says US ‘changing, contradictory’ positions keep talks stalled

Iran says the US

In an exclusive interview with the CNN in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei demanded that the US unconditionally release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets held in foreign banks, rejecting the idea that such a move would represent a concession.

He urged the US to simply end its sanctions against Iran, arguing, “As far as the sanctions and blocked assets are concerned, they simply need to let Iranian assets be released and be available for the Iranians.”

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