Iran Claims US Agrees to Unfreeze $12 Billion in Assets

Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has claimed that the United States has agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets worth US$12 billion, equivalent to Rp 214.2 trillion. Speaking to state media on Monday, Ghalibaf said talks between Iran and the US in Switzerland had finalised an agreement to release the frozen assets. He described the move as a direct result of a broader memorandum of understanding between the two nations, with the deal officially signed during a technical meeting in Switzerland on Monday. “The agreement for the US to release Iran’s frozen assets worth US$12 billion has been concluded in Switzerland,” Ghalibaf said. According to Ghalibaf, the release of the frozen funds will be carried out in two stages, each worth US$6 billion. He characterised the asset release as one of the key outcomes obtained by Tehran under the MoU with Washington. Ghalibaf added that the agreement also includes temporary relief measures affecting several sectors, noting that sanctions on crude oil, petrochemicals and their derivatives will only be fully lifted once a final agreement is reached. He said the measures would cover the banking, insurance and transport sectors. Ghalibaf’s statement came after the US announced a temporary easing of sanctions allowing the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemical products until 21 August. US authorities have not officially responded to Ghalibaf’s claim. However, President Donald Trump told reporters that the unfrozen Iranian funds would be used exclusively to purchase food and agricultural products from the US. “All that money is going to come back in the form of purchases of food, which they desperately need. They have 91 million people; they can’t feed their people. So the money that we release is going to go to our farmers,” Trump said. Iran immediately rejected Trump’s claim, with Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati telling Tasnim news agency that Tehran is “not obliged to buy” agricultural products from the US under the agreement. Hemmati stated that the US-Iran agreement on the matter specifies that the first US$6 billion tranche can be used to purchase “essential goods and medicine”. “If the price and quality of American inputs are more suitable compared to other countries, we have no objection to buying from that country,” he said. He added that the remaining US$6 billion “does not have to be spent on essential goods, but Iran can also purchase other non-sanctioned items”.