Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is reportedly pursuing a pathway to repurpose Iranian assets to compensate Amerca’s Gulf allies which have suffered significant damage due to Iran’s attacks in the wake of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury.
Over eighty oil, gas, and vital infrastructure facilities across the Gulf have been hit – with most of the attacks having occurred in March and April – with one recent report estimating up to $58 billion in damage. Iran has sought to justify these attacks as ‘retaliation’ for these Gulf countries hosting American bases during the US unprovoked assault on the Islamic Republic.
“Treasury will utilize 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,” a US official told ABC’s Senior White House correspondent Selina Wang over the weekend.
“The Secretary has also directed his team to assess conditions amongst our Gulf allies and request comprehensive estimates of the costs associated with repairing damage Iran has inflicted since the start of the conflict,” the source continued.
“Treasury will further consider whether Iranian assets could be used to support repairs for past damages,” it added, per the ABC correspondent. She also wrote on X:
The Iranian assets could include frozen assets and ships the U.S. has seized. The administration is reaching out to Gulf allies right now and asking for their evaluation.
If Treasury pulls the trigger on such a plan, it would likely further derail efforts to get Tehran and Washington back to the negotiating table. Already the US has balked at Iran’s own insistent it be given reparations for damage done.
Iran is demanding that its billions in funds long frozen by Washington be given back as part of a deal. The Trump administration has so far appeared to reject this.
While some Gulf allies might welcome this, some might see it as unrealistic and a recipe for just prolonging the war. In this scenario, Gulf societies would only suffer more, especially in any future escalation leading to all-out war.
The D.C. think tank Freedom for Defense of Democracies has estimated Iran’s damage suffered since the US-Israel war on it was launched at well over $100 billion, and possibly reaching as high as $300 billion – according to the highest-end estimates.
“FDD’s first model-based estimate of Iran’s economic losses to date due to Operation Epic Fury are $144 billion, or 40 percent of pre-war GDP,” a late April report said.
TOTAL IRAN ECONOMIC DAMAGE ESTIMATE, FDD on April 23…
On this basis, Tehran will pursue its case that it unjustly suffered the greatest damage to its national infrastructure and society, and that the surprise attack was launched as it was seeking to engage in good faith negotiations with the United States, ironically enough.