Hummm..... Could you be thinking of the gold held in the US that belonged to Iran? The gold that was placed there in the name of the Shah and by law could only be transferred by the Shah?

The gold that Carter said the US could seize to pay for US assets, such as a massive refinery, that the Iranians seized?

The Iranians were asking for a lot of stuff there towards the end of the 'standoff' because they were trying to find a face saving way out of the mess they had gotten themselves into.

Carter was buying none of it. Nor was President-elect Reagan. When the Iranians holding the hostages figured this out all that was left to do was to come up with a way out that would not get them all a life sentence for selling out to the Great Satan.