A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has said negotiations with the United States have reached a deadlock, insisting that progress toward a peace agreement depends on Washington releasing $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said the Trump administration must take the next step if it wants negotiations to move forward.
“The negotiations are at a deadlock and Trump must break this deadlock.
The ball is in Trump’s court,” Rezaei said during an interview in Tehran.
According to him, Iran wants $12 billion released immediately after an interim agreement is signed, while the remaining $12 billion would be released at a later stage.
Rezaei described the demand as a test of trust between the two countries, arguing that the funds belong to Iran and should not be treated as a concession from Washington.
“If Trump wants an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust. This is our own money, not America’s money,” he said.
His comments come as negotiations remain stalled despite repeated claims from US President Donald Trump that a deal could be within reach.
Rezaei also warned that any return to military confrontation could dramatically widen the conflict beyond the Persian Gulf.
He said Iran would respond by targeting additional American military installations across the region if attacked again.
According to him, any renewed conflict could extend from the Strait of Hormuz to the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and even parts of the Mediterranean.
“We will give another dimension to the war by attacking other American bases,” he said, while adding that he still believes the likelihood of a new war remains low.
On reports of a possible meeting between Trump and Iran’s supreme leader, Rezaei dismissed the idea, saying such a meeting was not under consideration.
He also reiterated Iran’s position that it shares authority over the Strait of Hormuz with Oman and suggested that ships using the strategic waterway could face maintenance charges in the future.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most important energy corridors, carrying a significant portion of global oil and liquefied natural gas exports.
Rezaei, a former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Tehran remains skeptical about the durability of any agreement with Washington, citing Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal during his first term in office.
He further claimed Iran is prepared for any future military escalation, arguing that the country’s ground forces possess capabilities that have not yet been fully demonstrated.
The remarks offer a rare glimpse into the thinking of Iran’s security establishment as both sides continue to search for a path toward ending months of conflict and restoring diplomatic engagement.
