Iran Demands Billions in Deal Talks — U.S. Intercepts Missiles as Trump Envoys Meet Nuclear Experts

Iran is demanding the release of $24 billion in frozen assets as a condition for advancing a potential agreement with Washington, while U.S. forces intercepted Iranian missiles and drones targeting Kuwait, Bahrain, and maritime traffic near the Strait of Hormuz and President Donald Trump’s top envoys quietly convened nuclear experts to prepare for the possible implementation of a deal.

The developments underscored the fragile state of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, with diplomacy advancing alongside fresh military exchanges in and around the Persian Gulf, continuing disputes over Iran’s uranium stockpile, demands for sanctions relief and frozen assets, and competing claims over the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

In an interview aired Friday, Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, declared that negotiations had reached “a deadlock” and demanded that the Trump administration release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets to move talks forward.

“Trump must break this deadlock,” Rezaei told CNN. “The ball is in Trump’s court.”

According to the interview, Tehran is seeking the release of $12 billion immediately upon signing an interim agreement and another $12 billion at a later stage.

Rezaei framed the demand as a “test of trust” for Trump, insisting the administration must release the funds before negotiations can meaningfully advance.

“If he wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump — this is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened,” Rezaei said, adding, “This is our own money, not America’s money.”

He also warned that Iran would expand the conflict well beyond the Persian Gulf if fighting resumes, threatening additional American positions throughout the region.

“We will give another dimension to the war by attacking these other American bases that we have been attacking so far,” Rezaei said, while simultaneously claiming that “the possibility of war is low.”

Rezaei also reiterated Tehran’s position that Iran and Oman share sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and defended Iran’s proposal to charge vessels what he described as a “maintenance fee” for passage through the strategic waterway.

The interview came as Axios reported Friday that White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner quietly traveled to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Thursday to consult with nuclear specialists expected to play a key role in implementing any future agreement with Iran.

According to the report, the administration recently assembled a roughly 100-member team of technical experts tasked with preparing for detailed nuclear negotiations should a preliminary agreement be reached.

The team would be responsible for developing plans governing Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, future enrichment restrictions, verification mechanisms, and other technical requirements associated with a potential agreement.

“This meeting in Oak Ridge doesn’t mean that a deal is going to happen, but it is a sign that the negotiations are in a very serious phase and that there is a good chance to get it done and we want to be prepared,” a U.S. official told Axios.

The report said Witkoff and Kushner reached preliminary understandings with Iranian negotiators last week on a proposed framework that would extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, permit Iranian oil exports, and launch negotiations over Tehran’s uranium stockpile and future enrichment restrictions.

While the sides continue negotiating revisions to the proposed framework, Axios reported that officials view the remaining disagreements as relatively narrow.

Among the unresolved issues is a dispute over how quickly Iran would dispose of or down-blend its enriched uranium stockpile. President Trump is reportedly seeking a 60-day deadline, while Iranian negotiators are pushing for 90 days.

Another major sticking point involves Iran’s demand for the phased release of $24 billion in frozen assets, including an initial $12 billion payment upon signing an interim agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that any second phase of negotiations would require months of highly technical discussions over Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, future enrichment limits, and verification mechanisms.

Even as negotiations continue, military tensions remain elevated.

Late Friday, U.S. Central Command announced that American forces intercepted four Iranian one-way attack drones that it said posed “an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic” near the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. forces shot down the drones before striking Iranian surveillance radar facilities in Goruk and on Qeshm Island.

Iran subsequently launched seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, according to CENTCOM.

The command said six of the missiles were intercepted and the seventh failed to reach its target.

“Iranian claims of damaging U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” CENTCOM said.

Air raid sirens sounded across Bahrain while Kuwaiti authorities said air defense systems intercepted hostile missile and drone threats.

Trump, meanwhile, said Friday that Iran’s military capabilities have been dramatically degraded following more than three months of sustained U.S.-Israeli operations targeting missile launchers, drone facilities, weapons-production sites, air defenses, and other military infrastructure.

“We know where their drones are, and we know where their drone factories are. Most of the drone factories have been knocked out,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News.

“They have some missiles. They have some drones. I would say percentage-wise, maybe 21 percent, 22 percent of their missiles.”

Asked why negotiations have not yet produced a final agreement, Trump argued that Iran’s leaders are struggling to accept the position they now find themselves in.

“They’re strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice,” Trump said.

The president also reiterated that Iran would never be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“One way or the other, it’s finished,” Trump said of the conflict. “It’s either finished with a piece of paper or it’s finished in a more difficult way.”