Amid anticipation of the outcome of the talks between Iran and the United States, an informed source revealed that US President Donald Trump linked the release of Iranian funds frozen abroad to the signing of the interim agreement with Tehran first.
The source confirmed to Al Arabiya on Thursday that Trump informed the mediators of his refusal to release the frozen funds before signing the agreement.
He added that the main obstacle in the negotiations relates to the mechanism for disposing of part of the frozen Iranian funds, noting that a proposal is under consideration to establish a special fund to deposit these funds.
He pointed out that research is still ongoing into a mechanism to release part of this Iranian money.
This comes at a time when Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed that there was no tangible progress in the recent talks with the United States regarding a temporary peace agreement, despite the continuation of contacts between the two sides.
Araqchi said, on Wednesday evening, that “no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process” with the United States, according to what was reported by the Iranian “Tasnim” agency.
His statements came in conjunction with US President Donald Trump hinting at the possibility of reaching an agreement by the end of this week.
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that the issue of highly enriched uranium constitutes a major axis in the ongoing talks between the two countries under Pakistani sponsorship, stressing that Tehran has not yet agreed to conclude a peace agreement.
For weeks, Iran and the United States have been engaged in indirect talks with the aim of reaching an agreement to end the war. While an atmosphere of optimism prevailed over the past week, press reports indicated that Trump made more stringent amendments to the proposal up for discussion, while Tehran has not yet submitted its final response.
However, recent days have witnessed escalation on the ground, with the exchange of strikes between American and Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, in addition to Iran targeting Kuwait, especially Kuwait International Airport.
