(Source from Reuters/Alamy)Iran, which recently released a U.S. prisoner, expected the freeze funds in South Korea to be released soon.
Iran’s state-run media, Nur News, reported that consultations on prisoner exchanges with the United States have been made, and that access to frozen funds in Korea will be restored in the near future.
In 2018, the U.S. Trump administration froze Iran’s oil sales account under sanctions against Iran, with about $7 billion in Iranian funds tied to South Korea.
It is said to be the largest frozen asset in Iran.
Nur News explained that the negotiations took place due to the mediation of a country in the Middle East, and that they were separate from the ongoing nuclear agreement restoration talks.
(Source from Reuters/Alamy)The report by Iranian state media came shortly after the release of an American father and son detained in Iran.
U.N. spokesman Stephen Dujarric issued a statement on the 1st local time, saying,
“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres thanked Bacquer Namazi for being allowed to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad.”
Barquere, an Iranian-American dual national, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage and cooperation for the U.S. government in 2016, and his son, Shia Mark, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the same charges.
A diplomatic official familiar with Iran’s nuclear negotiations told the Financial Times that the prisoner swap was a favorable sign for the West.
The official said the U.N., Qatar and Switzerland mediated the agreement and that “the move could lead to a solution to the Iranian freeze fund problem in South Korea.”
Recently, Foreign Minister Park Jin and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdulahian met in the wake of the U.N. General Assembly’s attendance and discussed the issue of frozen funds.
Although no official announcement has been made by the South Korean or Iranian governments, the stalled nuclear agreement restoration talks are also expected to make progress if reports from Iranian state media are true.
During the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran and the United States exchanged prisoners and lifted the freeze on Iranian overseas funds before reaching a settlement.
There have been more than two weeks of anti-government protests in Iran triggered by the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini incident, which was arrested and questioned by authorities for not wearing a hijab properly.
Bloomberg reported that news of some negotiations with the U.S. has been made public amid extreme internal pressure from the Iranian regime due to nationwide anti-government protests.
JENNIFER KIM
ASIA JOURNAL
