Key facts
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that using frozen state assets for unrelated future claims is an "incendiary precedent".
- Araghchi stated that if governments normalize confiscation, no one's assets will be safe.
- President Donald Trump threatened to use frozen Iranian assets to pay for damage to ships and cargo in and around the Gulf.
- The exchange occurs amid ongoing US strikes on Iran and threats from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis to shut down the Red Sea trade route.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a stern warning against the seizure of frozen state assets, describing it as an "incendiary precedent" that could lead to global chaos. His remarks followed statements by US President Donald Trump indicating a willingness to use Iranian funds to compensate for any damage sustained to vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Araghchi emphasized that normalizing the confiscation of national assets for unrelated future claims would jeopardize the security of all assets worldwide, cautioning that any ensuing chaos would be neither "pretty nor peaceful."