Iran has made the release of $24 billion in frozen assets a key condition in its indirect talks with the United States, according to Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Speaking to CNN, Rezaei described the asset release as a “confidence-building” measure and a test of Washington’s intentions.
“If Donald Trump wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of the trust Iran seeks to have in Trump. This is a test the United States must pass. This is our money, not America’s money,” he said.
Rezaei also warned that if the United States resumes military action and maintains what he described as a naval blockade, Iran would broaden the scope of its military response beyond the Persian Gulf.
He said Tehran could expand operations from the Strait of Hormuz to the Indian Ocean, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, adding that Iran would target U.S. bases it had not previously attacked.
Despite the warning, Rezaei said he considers the likelihood of war to be low.
Addressing reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had sought a meeting with Iran’s supreme leader, Rezaei said no such meeting would take place.
Asked whether he had a message for Trump, Rezaei said the U.S. president should make decisions independently of Israel, recognize what he described as the rights of the Iranian people, end the blockade and release Iranian assets.
“That would open a new chapter in relations between Iran and the United States,” Rezaei said. “If Trump shows courage, many problems could be resolved.”
