Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday warned that using Iran’s frozen assets to compensate for damage to commercial shipping would set a dangerous international precedent, after US President Donald Trump suggested Tehran should pay for losses linked to attacks on cargo vessels.
In a post on X, Araghchi said confiscating another country’s assets to cover unrelated future claims would have far-reaching consequences.
“Seizing another nation’s assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent,” he wrote. “No one’s assets are safe once governments normalise such confiscation. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.”
His remarks came in response to comments by Trump on Truth Social, where the US president said that “any and all damages done” to cargo ships would be paid for with “Iranian money,” referring to frozen Iranian assets held by the United States.
Trump did not explain how such a move would be carried out or provide further details on the proposal.
The exchange comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran and continued concerns over maritime security and commercial shipping in the region.