Iran targeting buyers of US Treasury bonds: Parliament speaker

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, on Sunday warned that his country will target buyers of U.S. Treasury bonds. 

“In addition to military bases, those financial institutions that fund the U.S. military budget are considered legitimate targets,” he wrote on the social platform X. “U.S. Treasury bonds are tainted with the blood of Iranians. 

“If you proceed to purchase them, you are in fact attacking your own assets and primary headquarters. We are monitoring your investment portfolios.”

As of January, the countries holding the most American bonds are Japan, the United Kingdom, China, Belgium and Luxembourg, according to the Treasury Department. In the Middle East, countries with more than $100 billion in bonds include Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran starting Feb. 28, the latter has attacked American military bases and embassies across the region. At least seven U.S. soldiers have been killed by Iranian retaliation, while six soldiers died when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on March 12.

Axios reported Monday, citing an Israeli official, that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in touch with Ghalibaf, the parliament speaker since 2020. President Trump also said Monday that he is not in contact with the new Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, but noted that Witkoff and Kushner spoke with their Iranian counterparts on Sunday.

“We’re dealing with a man who I believe is the most respected and the leader,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Fla. 

Earlier Monday, the president said U.S. strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure would halt for five days after “very good” and “productive conversations” regarding an end to the conflict with Iran. 

But Ghalibaf on Monday denied that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are taking place, writing on X that “fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.” 

Oil prices fell and stocks surged on Monday after the president announced a five-day pause.