The United States has granted international banks permission to transfer $6 bn in frozen Iranian assets from South Korea to Qatar, in compliance with American sanctions relief, as reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress on September 11 about the partial lifting of sanctions on Iran, notes the publication.
Unlocking Iranian funds is part of a deal in which Iran will release five detained Americans, and the U.S. will release five Iranians currently imprisoned in the United States.
"The United States and Iran have initiated indirect diplomatic dialogue with the assistance of Qatar to expedite the release of five U.S. citizens detained in Iran. To expedite their release, the United States has committed to releasing five Iranian citizens currently held in the United States and allowing the transfer of approximately $6 bn in Iranian assets held in restricted accounts in the Republic of Korea to blocked accounts in Qatar, where the funds will be used solely for humanitarian trade," the letter from Blinken to lawmakers stated.
The U.S. State Department has previously clarified that Washington will monitor how the funds are used. "These are Iran's funds. Allowing Iran to use such funds for humanitarian purposes is consistent with longstanding U.S. policy aimed at ensuring that our sanctions do not hinder the flow of humanitarian goods and services to ordinary people, regardless of how undesirable or problematic their government may be," a State Department spokesperson previously mentioned.
Among the Americans of Iranian descent set to be released from prison, there are individuals such as businessmen Siamak Namazi and Emad Shargi, as well as businessman and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, as reported by The New York Times.
The identities of the other two Americans being released in the deal are not disclosed at the request of their families. According to sources cited by the publication, one of them is a scholar, and the other is a businessman. The newspaper further clarifies that all of them were sentenced to imprisonment on "unfounded espionage charges."
In mid-August, Iranian authorities moved the released Americans from prison in Tehran to house arrest. It is currently unknown who the U.S. will hand over in exchange to the Iranian side.
The Iranian assets, frozen in South Korean banks, consist of payments South Korea was obligated to transfer to Iran for purchasing oil. After the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal, sanctions were imposed on Tehran, and later, the U.S. prohibited eight major importers of Iranian oil, including South Korea, from buying energy resources from Iran. As a result, the funds allocated for importing oil were frozen.
Previously, the Financial Times reported that the U.S. is also pushing for Iran to cease supplying Russia with combat drones, which Russia uses in the Ukraine conflict, in exchange for sanctions relief.
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