Tehran has officially announced that the process of unfreezing $6 billion worth of Iran’s funds, which have been wrongfully withheld in South Korea due to the pretext of US sanctions, is currently in motion.
In a formal statement issued on Thursday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry responded to a flurry of media reports regarding a potential prisoner exchange deal between Iran and the US, one that would encompass the liberation of Iranian assets as well.
The statement conveyed, “Iran has been provided with the necessary assurances of the United States’ commitment to its responsibilities in this matter.”
The ministry emphasized that the release of these funds has consistently been on its agenda, underscoring that the assets were unjustly entangled due to the rationale of “concerns held by foreign banks over America’s punitive sanctions.”
The manner in which the thawed funds will be utilized will be determined by “the Islamic Republic and competent Iranian authorities,” the ministry clarified.
Reports indicate that this fund release has been mutually agreed upon in conjunction with a prisoner exchange accord between Tehran and Washington. This arrangement entails both sides surrendering several detainees to the other party.
Furthermore, the statement highlighted that the ministry, in addition to securing the release of the frozen funds, has been ardently pursuing the liberation of Iranian captives as an inherent duty.
It elaborated that these detainees had been apprehended and detained within American penitentiaries, “in violation of international norms and under the unfounded pretext of circumventing the US’s oppressive sanctions.”
“The imminent release of these prisoners will soon come to fruition,” the statement affirmed, also noting that the individuals identified for release by the US authorities remain within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic.
However, multiple accounts suggest that the release of these detainees hinges upon the transfer of Iranian assets to accounts designated by Iran.
Simultaneously, on the same day, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri-Kani reaffirmed the ongoing process of asset release in a tweet. He added that the impending liberation of Iranians held in US custody would occur “within the same framework.”
