Bessent says damage from Iran war, Hormuz tolls will be offset with seized Iranian funds

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that damage caused by Iran during the war would be offset using Iranian funds.

In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Bessent said the Iranian regime "will lose the zero-sum game it is currently playing," adding that "all damage inflicted on our Gulf allies will be compensated from funds seized from Iranian accounts."

He also said that "tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds seized from their accounts." The Persian Gulf Strait Authority is a body Iran established under the pretext of managing transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Bessent went on to say that "any attack Iran carries out will only deepen the economic and fiscal costs Iran faces."

The remarks signal Washington's intent to push economic pressure on Iran to its maximum alongside military action. US forces have conducted two days of airstrikes on Iran in retaliation for the downing of an Apache helicopter, with plans to intensify the campaign further.

The "funds seized from Iranian accounts" that Bessent referenced are believed to refer to assets frozen under sanctions, though the phrase may carry a broader meaning.

The Financial Times reported June 6 that the United States was pursuing a plan to use Iranian assets to cover the cost of damage sustained by Gulf states, saying Bessent had ordered officials to calculate the losses suffered by US allies in the Gulf as a result of Iran's actions in the war. Reuters reported the same information at the time, noting it was unclear whether the Iranian assets in question referred specifically to funds frozen under sanctions.

Frozen Iranian funds are estimated at around $100 billion (153 trillion won), and Iran has made the unfreezing of $24 billion (36.8 trillion won) of that total a precondition for any deal in end-of-war negotiations with the United States.