Khamenei's Advisor: Agreement with America Conditional on Frozen Funds

SadaNews - Mohsen Rezaei, an advisor to the Iranian leader, stated that reaching a potential agreement between Tehran and Washington depends on the approval of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to release $24 billion of frozen Iranian assets.

Rezaei was quoted by CNN saying that any understanding between the two sides is contingent upon the release of these held funds, referring to the Iranian assets frozen abroad due to U.S. and international sanctions.

These statements come at a time when indirect communications between the United States and Iran continue regarding several unresolved issues, amid growing discussions about the two sides nearing new agreements after months of political and military tensions in the region.

A Sensitive Issue

The issue of frozen Iranian funds is one of the main contentious points between the two parties, as Tehran has been demanding for years the release of billions of dollars from oil revenues and financial assets held in various countries, while Washington conditions any easing of sanctions or release of the funds on Iranian commitments in various matters.

This condition is being raised while the United States continues its policy of economic pressure on Iran, as the U.S. Treasury Department announced today, Friday, new sanctions targeting networks linked to energy trade and Iran's financial sector.

No official comment has yet been issued by the White House or the U.S. State Department regarding Rezaei's statements or the relevance of the frozen assets issue to the ongoing negotiations between the two sides.