Iran's top negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said an agreement had been reached with the US during talks in Switzerland to release $12 billion in frozen assets, although Washington has yet to confirm that.
Two sums of $6 billion were to be released, Mr Ghalibaf said. He added that the initial arrangements had already been made during a trip to Qatar but the final signing took place during the talks at the Burgenstock resort at the weekend.
Mr Ghalibaf said the agreement was in accordance with Article 11 of the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington, which deals with the issue of frozen Iranian assets. The US "undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets" and both states will "mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during the negotiations", the article says.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Tuesday said Tehran would spend its funds as it sees fit after the US suggested it would be used to purchase American agricultural goods.
US Vice President JD Vance on Monday had said White House envoy Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, had come up with a process where the US and Qatar would have control over Iranian funds when they are unfrozen, and the money could be spent on American corn, soybeans and wheat. "So, the money that we lift is going to go to our farmers," Mr Trump said.
Mr Baghaei said in a media briefing that "we have all come to know the true reason behind this war was to exterminate Iran’s civilisation, and this goal has shifted into bringing US farmers massive revenues with frozen assets".
“All in all, we are not faced with any restriction on how to channel these funds. Our assets will be employed with absolute liberty," he added.
Washington has previously expressed concern that the frozen funds could be used to support Iranian proxies around the region, particularly at a time when efforts are being made to curb those armed groups.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said on social media on Monday that Tehran had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports, the release of some of its frozen assets abroad and the launch of a reconstruction and development plan for Iran.
Iran's central bank governor said remaining frozen funds would not be used just for essential goods and that Tehran would also be able to purchase other non-sanctioned goods, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Washington on Monday also waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days as both sides, and mediators, work towards a final peace deal during that period. The waiver allows Iran to sell oil and related products and receive payment for them.
Speaking from the plane as he departed for Pakistan on Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was seeking the full implementation of all the clauses in the deal with the US. "If this is achieved, many of the problems in the region will be reduced and the hands of the aggressors and aggressors will be cut short," he said.
What are Iran's frozen funds?
The issue dates back years. Under successive presidents, the US has imposed sanctions on Iran over its secretive nuclear programme, its support for militants such as Hezbollah, and other issues. The UN has also adopted sanctions.
The measures included the freezing of Iranian funds sitting in US accounts – meaning their owners in Tehran cannot access them. The Iranian central bank, for example, was believed to have $1.75 billion in bonds in a New York bank account.
In 2023, Qatar announced that Iranian funds worth about $6 billion had been transferred from South Korea and deposited in Doha. The transfer was part of a deal brokered by Qatar in which Iran released five detained Americans. The Iranian government, though, says it has been denied full access to the funds.
Iran now says the aim of its talks in Qatar is to release $24 billion, a far higher figure that it did not explain. It could include funds held in other countries.
