Advisor to the Iranian Leader, Mohsen Rezaei, said that reaching a possible agreement between Tehran and Washington depends on the approval of the administration of US President Donald Trump to release $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
CNN quoted Rezaei as saying that any understanding between the two sides remains dependent on the release of these withheld funds, in reference to Iranian assets frozen abroad as a result of US and international sanctions.
These statements come at a time when indirect contacts continue between the United States and Iran regarding a number of outstanding issues, amid growing talk about the two sides approaching new understandings after months of political and military tensions in the region.
The issue of frozen Iranian funds is one of the most prominent controversial issues between the two parties, as Tehran has been demanding for years the release of billions of dollars in oil revenues and financial assets held in various countries, while Washington links any easing of sanctions or release of funds to Iranian obligations in several files.
The introduction of this condition comes in conjunction with the continued US economic pressure policy on Iran, as the US Treasury Department announced on Friday the imposition of new sanctions targeting networks linked to energy trade and the Iranian financial sector.
There has been no official comment yet from the White House or the US State Department regarding Rezaei’s statements, or regarding the extent to which the frozen assets file is related to the ongoing discussions between the two sides.
