US Won’t Unfreeze Iran’s Assets Before Peace Deal Is Reached, Trump Says – The Epoch Times

Motorists drive their vehicles along a road in Tehran, Iran (AP Photo)

The United States won’t unfreeze Iran’s assets until a long-term peace deal to end the conflict in the Middle East is reached, President Donald Trump said on June 7.

“If they behave, if ​they do a good job, we start talking,” Trump said during an interview on “Meet the Press.”

Approximately $24 billion in Iranian assets are frozen by the United States.

Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN on June 5 that any peace deal would hinge on the U.S. releasing the stalled assets.

The Trump administration considered a plan to use some of Iran’s assets to help out neighboring countries that sustained damage during the three-month war, which started on Feb. 28.

A Treasury Department official confirmed to the Epoch Times on June 6 that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already assigned a team to tally the total cost of damages inflicted by the Iranian regime.

Trump was also asked in his interview Sunday if he wished he had negotiated a better deal with the Iranian regime during his first term.

“No, this is much better,” Trump responded. “This is much better. I would have done it in my first term [but] Israel wouldn’t have been ready.”

The United States and Iran are in the process of negotiating a peace deal to end the war in the Middle East amid a tentative ceasefire, which started in April.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi attempted to continue peace efforts on Sunday during a visit to Tehran.

Naqvi allegedly was carrying a message from Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to Iranian leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency. The contents of the letter were not made public.

Despite efforts for peace, military operations continued over the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil and gas waterway located south of Iran.

U.S. forces shot down at least six Iranian drones on June 6, suggesting the devices threatened maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

Melanie Sun and Reuters contributed to this report.