Exclusive: Iran Supreme Leader’s Adviser Says Talks Deadlocked Over $24 Billion, Warns of Wider War
A top Iranian official has said any possible peace deal with the United States depends on the Trump administration unfreezing $24 billion in Iranian assets, framing the demand as a test of trust and warning that renewed conflict would push the war far beyond Iran’s borders.
In an exclusive interview with CNN in Tehran, Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said negotiations are stalled and argued that President Donald Trump must break the deadlock. Iran, he said, wants $12 billion released immediately after an interim agreement is signed, with another $12 billion transferred later. Rezaei described the money as “our own money,” not a concession from Washington, and said its release would open “a new horizon” for future relations between the two countries.
US officials, however, are reportedly wary that unfreezing the funds would remove an important source of leverage. Trump has sought a deal that is far stronger than the 2015 nuclear agreement and has repeatedly criticized the idea of handing over what he called “pallets of cash” to Tehran, a reference to the Obama administration’s financial settlement with Iran.
Rezaei used the interview to outline Iran’s stance on several key issues. He warned that if the US resumes military action, Iran would expand the conflict beyond the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. He said Iran would target additional American bases and claimed the likelihood of war remains low, while still signaling that Tehran is prepared for escalation.
He also dismissed the prospect of a meeting between Trump and Khamenei, saying such a meeting will not happen at this stage because the talks are already at a standstill. His comments came after Trump said this week that he and Khamenei “seem to be getting along well” and that he would be honored to meet him.
Rezaei further repeated Iran’s claim of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz alongside Oman, saying the two countries would manage the strategic waterway together. He suggested Iran could charge a maintenance fee for ships passing through the strait, rather than calling it a toll.
A veteran of the Iran-Iraq War and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Rezaei is a prominent figure in Iran’s security establishment. He later joined the Expediency Council and served as vice president under former President Ebrahim Raisi. He said the current conflict marked the first time Iran had emerged victorious in war, and warned that if negotiations collapse, the world would see the full extent of Iran’s ground military capabilities.
