According to the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on June 29 that 6 billion US dollars of the 12 billion US dollars of assets frozen in Qatar will be released and returned to Iran.
Peserchiyan stated that the recent agreement with the United States is an important achievement and a major victory for the Iranian people. Under this agreement, sanctions on the oil and petrochemical industries have been lifted. Iran will continue to recover the remaining frozen funds.
Pezeshijian said, "The late supreme leader Ali Khamenei stated that we do not seek to acquire nuclear weapons, and we will continue to emphasize this stance." "We assure the international community that our nuclear activities will be in line with national needs and comply with the policy framework we have announced."
The $6 billion that was unfrozen this time came from a prisoner exchange agreement between the United States and Iran in 2023. The agreement allowed Iran to transfer the $6 billion in oil funds frozen at the Korean Bank of Korea to Qatar in exchange for the release of five American prisoners by Iran. In addition, the United States would also release five Iranian prisoners. At that time, the United States stipulated that Iran could only use this $6 billion to purchase humanitarian supplies, including food and medicine. The U.S. Treasury Department will keep track of each transfer. If Iran violates these terms, the United States will freeze the relevant funds again.
In the United States, especially President Trump has repeatedly stated that "Iran will use the funds from the thawing relations to purchase American agricultural products," but Iran denies this claim.
Iran's Central Bank Governor Homaiti told Tasnim News Agency that Iran has no obligation to use the unfrozen funds to purchase agricultural products from the United States. The use of the "first batch of $6 billion" will be based on the agreement reached between Iran and the United States in 2023, and the funds will be used for purchasing basic goods and medicines. Homaiti also said that if American products are more suitable in terms of price and quality than those from other countries, Iran is not opposed to purchasing them from the United States.
