Khamenei aide ties US deal to release of $24 billion in frozen assets - CNN

Mohsen Rezaei, a military aide to Iran's supreme leader, told CNN any US-Iran peace deal depends on Washington releasing $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, warning that renewed fighting would push the United States into a “dark corridor.”

“If he (Trump) 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,” he said in the rare interview with CNN.

“This is our own money, not America’s money.”

He also warned that Tehran will “drag the war” beyond the Persian Gulf if the US resumes the conflict, potentially expanding military operations from the Strait of Hormuz to the Indian Ocean, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

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