Iran insists on releasing frozen foreign assets

The situation at a glance

Iran insists on releasing frozen foreign assets

The Iranian economy is in crisis, the middle class is groaning under high inflation. How the debate about blocked foreign assets is shaping the talks about an agreement with the USA.

While an agreement on a framework agreement between the USA and Iran is still pending, the importance of frozen Iranian foreign assets is increasingly coming into focus in Tehran. Iranian media and other observers of the negotiations said they were convinced that a preliminary agreement in the talks for the leadership in Tehran was crucially linked to the release of blocked money.

For days, the USA and Iran have been struggling to reach a framework agreement to extend the ceasefire that has been in effect since April 8th and further negotiations. An agreement is reportedly imminent. On Friday, US President Donald Trump even announced a “final decision” – but then he said nothing more about it.

According to a report by the US news portal Axios, Trump is said to have demanded changes to the draft deal that his confidants had already agreed to with negotiators from Tehran. In particular, the planned handling of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stocks did not receive the president’s blessing, it said, citing two US officials. That’s why the delegations now have to do another loop, which could take several days.

In Tehran, on the other hand, the focus seems to lie elsewhere. The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported on Friday that Iran has repeatedly emphasized that the status of frozen Iranian assets must first be clarified before any agreement can be reached. The Fars news agency also wrote that Trump had ignored the fact that twelve billion US dollars in frozen Iranian foreign accounts had to be released immediately after signing a preliminary agreement. In doing so, she contradicted statements made by the US President about the framework agreement.

Without this release, Iran will not enter the next phase of negotiations, Fars said. Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian said at a meeting with economic officials in the middle of the week that the “central battlefield” was currently the economic war with the USA.

According to experts, financial issues are of great importance for the Islamic Republic given the massive economic crisis in the country and the costly war. In total, it is estimated that more than $100 billion of Iranian money is in accounts abroad that are partially or completely blocked as a result of sanctions.

Extensive sanctions have been imposed on Iran over the years – by the United Nations as well as by the USA and the European Union. The reason for this is, among other things, the Iranian nuclear program, which some opponents see as a cover for the construction of an atomic bomb, despite assurances to the contrary from Tehran.

According to the spokesman for the Budget Commission of the Iranian Parliament, the initial aim will be to release a total of at least 24 billion US dollars, which Iran will receive in two tranches. As part of an agreement with the Emir of Qatar, it was stipulated that half of this sum – $12 billion – would be made available to the Iranians through a special mechanism, Mohsen Sanganeh told the Icana news portal on Saturday. According to Sanganeh, parallel to the cessation of hostilities and the end of the US naval blockade, this release of funds is the central prerequisite for an agreement.