Dawoud Manzour, Iranian Vice President Ibrahim Raisi announced Sunday that part of the frozen Iranian assets in South Korea, Turkey, and Iraq had been released, within the framework of an agreement concluded between Washington and Tehran, which also includes the exchange of prisoners between the two parties.
The Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Manzoor as saying, during a meeting with planning elites and economic experts in the country, that "a significant part of the Iranian assets frozen in Seoul, Baghdad, and Ankara have been released," noting that these assets are from the reserves of the Central Bank. It is not affiliated with the government.
The head of the Planning and Budget Organization stated that the government tried to increase the sale and export of oil, and achieved success in this field, although the collection of foreign exchange revenues faces problems in this regard (due to Western sanctions).
The semi-official Iranian Student News Agency had quoted the Iranian president as saying that his country's assets released abroad would be used to boost domestic production.
On August 10, the United States and Iran reached an agreement that includes the release of 5 Americans detained in Tehran, as well as an unknown number of Iranians imprisoned in Washington, after billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets were transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar, as part of the framework Allowing Tehran to use that money for humanitarian purposes.
On the same day, Iran transferred 4 American citizens detained in prisons to house arrest, to join a fifth citizen already under house arrest.
This is the first step in a deal that will unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea and eventually allow the five to leave Iran.
Allowing the five Americans to leave Iran would remove one of the main obstacles in the relationship between Washington and Tehran, which remain at odds over issues, most notably the Iranian nuclear program.
Among the Iranian-Americans who were allowed to leave Evin prison on August 10 are businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Imad Sharqi, 58, and environmental activist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who also holds British citizenship.
Nasser Kanaani, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said at the time, in a press conference, that the procedures for the release of the Americans detained in Iran would take up to two months.
Iran stated that Washington would release some Iranians from US prisons as well.
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