Iran assets will stay frozen until peace deal is reached

U.S. President Donald ​Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ "Meet the Press" that ‌he would not unfreeze Iranian assets or lift any sanctions before a peace deal is reached.

Trump said he would consider those steps after an ​agreement is done. "Comes after," he said. "Yeah. If they behave, if ​they do a good job, we start talking. Yeah."

Trump ⁠also said that he was not demanding that Lebanon be ​a part of a short-term deal with Tehran.

"I think they'd like ​to see it, but I'm not demanding," Trump said in the interview recorded on Friday.
U.S. and Israeli forces began strikes on Iran on February ​28. The Trump administration has been trying to negotiate a ​potential peace deal for weeks. "We're very close to a deal, or I'm going ‌to ⁠blow the hell out of them," Trump told NBC News.

The president also said he would be willing to speak with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen ​in public since ​being wounded in ⁠U.S. strikes at the beginning of the conflict.

"I don't want to say whether or not I ​know where he is, but there's a good ​probability that ⁠I do," Trump said.

Top Trump administration officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio insist a temporary ceasefire agreement has been ⁠holding ​up despite recent U.S. strikes on Iran, ​telling lawmakers last week those are defensive actions.

-Reuters