Iranian source says US has agreed to unfreeze Iranian funds held in Qatar, other countries

A senior Iranian source said on Saturday (11 April) the US
had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets held in Qatar and other foreign
banks, welcoming the move as a sign of "seriousness" in reaching a
deal with Washington in talks in Islamabad.
The source, who declined to be
named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that unfreezing the
assets was "directly linked to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of
Hormuz", which is expected to be a key issue in the talks.
The senior source did not give a
value for the assets that Washington had agreed to unfreeze. A second Iranian
source said the United States had agreed to release $6 billion of frozen
Iranian funds held by Qatar.
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 originally frozen eight years ago
The $6 billion, originally frozen
in 2018, had been due for release in 2023 as part of a US-Iranian prisoner swap
but the funds were again frozen by the administration of President Joe Biden
following the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel by Iran's ally, the Palestinian
militant group Hamas.
US officials said at the time that
Iran would not be able to access the money for the foreseeable future,
stressing that Washington retained the right to completely freeze the account.
The funds stem from Iranian oil sales to South Korea and had been blocked in
South Korean banks after President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran in
2018 - during his first term in the White House - and scrapped a deal between
world powers and Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Under the September 2023 US–Iran
prisoner swap mediated by Doha, the money was transferred to Qatari bank
accounts. The prisoner swap involved the release of five US citizens detained
in Iran in exchange for the funds' release and the release of five Iranians
held in the United States.
US officials said at that time that
the money was restricted to humanitarian use only, to be disbursed to
approved vendors for food, medicine, medical equipment and agricultural goods
shipped into Iran under US Treasury oversight.
















