TEHRAN, May 26 — Iran has demanded the release of its frozen assets worth 24 billion U.S. dollars during the negotiations with the United States on ending the war, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday.
Citing an informed source close to Iran’s negotiating team, Tasnim said that according to the text of a potential 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) being finalized between Tehran and Washington, Iran’s frozen assets must be released during peace talks.
Iran insists that half of the amount must be made available upon the announcement of the MoU and the rest transferred within 60 days, the source added.
According to the source, the Monday visit by Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf to Qatar was aimed at reaching an understanding on the implementation of Iran’s demand and ways to provide the country with access to 12 billion U.S. dollars worth of its frozen assets in the first step and remove obstacles to that end.
The source described the outcomes of the visit as “favorable,” adding that talks during the trip were generally “good and led to progress in the overall negotiations.”
However, the source warned that, given the United States’ record of breaking promises, Iran is proceeding with great caution. Noting the country’s previous experience with the United States regarding the release of frozen assets in South Korea and Qatar, the source said Tehran insists on carefully managing the implementation stages to avoid a repeat of similar issues.
Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency quoted another source close to the Iranian negotiating team as saying that Iran has refused to hold any negotiation unless its preconditions are met, including the release of frozen assets.
Fars reported that the last serious disagreement between Iran and the United States over the initiation of negotiations has been the method of Tehran’s access to its blocked assets, which is being resolved with Qatar’s mediation and initiative.
It said that following consultations between Iranian and Qatari officials in Doha, progress has been made toward resolving the issue.
On Monday, a high-level Iranian delegation, including Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, and Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, visited Doha for talks with Qatari officials on a possible peace agreement with the United States, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told state-run IRIB TV that Iran and the United States are working to finalize an MoU on ending the war.
“Our intention has been to firstly agree on an MoU consisting of 14 clauses,” Baghaei said, noting that “within a period of 30 to 60 days,” Tehran and Washington would “reach a final agreement,” covering issues such as the cessation of U.S. maritime attacks and the release of Iranian frozen assets.
Iran, the United States, and Israel reached a ceasefire on April 8 after 40 days of fighting. Following the truce, Iranian and U.S. delegations held one round of peace talks in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, which failed to yield an agreement.
Over the past weeks, the two sides have reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for ending the conflict through Pakistani mediation. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
