Incendiary precedent: Araghchi slams Trump over plan to use Iranian assets for ship damage payments

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Friday slammed US President Donald Trump's plan to use Iranian assets held by Washington to compensate for damages to ships and cargo transiting through strategic maritime waterways in West Asia, calling the move an "incendiary precedent". In a post on X, Araghchi warned that confiscating another country's assets to settle unrelated claims would undermine international norms and create wider instability. "Seizing another nation's assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent. Those who celebrate or profit from such funds should remember: once governments normalize confiscation, no one's assets are safe. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful," the post read.

His remarks came after Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said that any future damages caused to ships, cargo or related maritime assets would be paid for using Iranian money held and controlled by the United States. "Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls," Trump said in his post. He added that the damages "may be very substantial" but described the move as "the fair and equitable thing to do." Trump's statement comes after Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.