U.S. President Says Iranian Assets Will Remain Frozen Until Peace Deal Is Finalised

Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ "Meet the Press" that ‌he would not unfreeze Iranian assets or lift any sanctions before a peace deal is reached, as Iran's top negotiator threatened U.S. targets over Lebanon escalation.

President Trump said he would consider those steps after an agreement is done. "Comes after," he said. "Yeah. If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking. Yeah."

President Trump ⁠also said that he was not demanding that Lebanon be a part of a short-term deal with Tehran.

"I think they'd like to see it, but I'm not demanding," Trump said in the interview recorded on Friday.

U.S. and Israeli forces began strikes on Iran on 28 February. The Trump administration has been trying to negotiate a potential peace deal for weeks. "We're very close to a deal, or I'm going ‌to ⁠blow the hell out of them," President Trump told NBC News.

The president also said he would be willing to speak with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since being wounded in ⁠U.S. strikes at the beginning of the conflict.

"I don't want to say whether or not I know where he is, but there's a good probability that ⁠I do," Trump said.

Top Trump administration officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio insist a temporary ceasefire agreement has been ⁠holding up despite recent U.S. strikes on Iran, telling lawmakers last week those are defensive actions.

The U.S. naval blockade of Iran and its green light on Sunday ‌for Israel to escalate attacks in Lebanon make U.S. bases and Israeli assets in the Middle East legitimate targets, ⁠Iran's top negotiator said in a post on X.

The comments from Iran's Parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, follow Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital, a stronghold of Iran's ally ‌Hezbollah.

"They ⁠are neither committed to a ceasefire nor believe in dialogue, and through the naval blockade and violation ⁠of agreements regarding Lebanon they showed that they only understand the language ⁠of power," Qalibaf said in an apparent reference to ⁠the U.S. and Israel.

Source: Reuters



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