Tehran: Senior Iranian sources told the news agency that the United States has agreed to restore Iran’s frozen assets held in Qatar and other foreign banks, according to Reuters.
Senior Iranian sources, as reported by Reuters, consider the U.S. move a sign of goodwill and seriousness toward a sustainable peace agreement.
The news agency adds that a lasting peace deal is directly linked to the restoration of assets and ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
There was no immediate statement from the United States about any unfreezing of assets. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FUNDS FROZEN FOR NEARLY A DECADE
The $6 billion was first blocked in 2018 and was scheduled to be unlocked in 2023 under a prisoner exchange agreement between Washington and Tehran. However, the Biden administration re-froze the assets after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, given Hamas’s ties to Iran.
At the time, US officials indicated Tehran would not be granted access to the money indefinitely and that Washington reserved the authority to lock the funds down entirely.
The money originated from Iranian crude exports to South Korea and was trapped in South Korean banking channels after Donald Trump, during his first presidency, withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement and reinstated sanctions in 2018.
As part of the Doha-brokered prisoner swap finalised in September 2023, the funds were moved into Qatari-held bank accounts. The deal saw five American detainees freed from Iranian custody in return for the release of the frozen assets and five Iranian nationals held in the US.
US officials maintained at the time that the money could only be spent on humanitarian needs routed through vetted suppliers for essentials such as food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and agricultural products entering Iran, all under the watch of the U.S. Treasury.
