USA on Sunday rejected Iranian reports that Tehran’s release of two US detainees means the release of Iranian funds abroad.
Tehran allowed Iranian-American Baquer Namazi (85) to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad and released his son Siamak (50), reported United Nations Saturday.
Now, Iran awaits the release of some 7,000 million dollars frozen in accounts abroad. This was reported by official Iranian media on Sunday.
“With the closure of negotiations between Iran and the United States to release prisoners from both countries, 7 billion dollars of frozen Iranian resources will be unlocked,” the official IRNA agency said.
Statement by the US government on the release of two citizens
However, the US State Department ruled out such a link as “categorically false”.
“Baquer Namazi was unjustly detained in Iran and following serving his sentence he was not allowed to leave the country despite his repeated request for urgent medical attention,” said an official from that ministry.
“We understand that the lifting of the travel ban and the release of your son relate to his medical treatment,” it added.
Billions of dollars of Iranian funds in various countries – notably China, South Korea and Japan – have been frozen since the United States re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic republic in 2018, following its unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran.
The IRNA agency specified on Sunday that “Washington is simultaneously seeking the release of its citizens detained in Tehran and the release of Iranian funds in South Korea.”
The news comes amid negotiations that have been going on since April 2021 seeking to revive the 2015 deal that freed Iran from heavy international sanctions in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
