Government Media CEO Says $3.5 Billion Of Iran's Frozen Funds Released

The CEO of Iran's government official news agency IRNA has tweeted that $3.5 billion of Tehran's frozen funds were released, without providing any details.

Ali Naderi, who is close to sources of information in President Ebrahim Raisi’s government, did not provide any details as to which country released the funds.

“Less than 100 days after the 13th government took office, $3.5 billion of Iran’s frozen funds in one of the countries was released and a considerable part of it is entering the commercial market,” Naderi tweeted.

Iran has around $20 billion frozen in several countries because of US banking sanctions imposed in 2018, when the United States pulled out of the Obama-era nuclear deal called JCPOA.

South Korea holds around $7 billion and had been targeted by Tehran’s pressures to release the funds.

There has been no indication by the Biden Administration that funds have been released.

In October, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran wants US to allow $10 billion to be freed as a show of “goodwill” before talks on Iran’s nuclear program resume.

Iran’s currency, rial, has dropped by around 20 percent since Raisi took office in August, due to lack of oil exports and pessimist about the JCPOA talks.