A US official ??on Saturday denied reports that Washington has agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets.
Reuters reported earlier in the day that the U.S. had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets held in ??Qatar and other foreign banks, citing a senior Iranian source.
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 October 7, 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.
First Published: Apr 11 2026 | 3:42 PM IST
Source link
#White #House #official #rejects #reports #unfreezing #Iranian #assets
