Iranian Govt Says Frozen Assets Released in Four Countries

Iran’s Deputy President and head of the Planning and Budget Organization (PBO), Davoud Manzour, revealed that a significant part of the Iranian frozen assets were released in South Korea, Türkiye, Japan and Iraq, several Iranian news agencies reported.

In a meeting with economic experts late Saturday, Manzour said they were trying to reduce the impact of the sanctions or "remove them.”

"These assets are, of course, part of the central bank's reserves and do not belong to the government,” he noted.

Iran on Aug. 10 released four imprisoned US citizens into house arrest, where they joined a fifth already under home confinement, in the first step of a deal under which $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea would be unfrozen and the five would eventually be allowed to leave Iran.

Seoul then affirmed that the Iranian assets that had been frozen in South Korea were transferred to Switzerland's central bank and then to an account in Qatar that Iran could access.

Tehran says the process of releasing the US prisoners held in Iran will take up to two months.

Last Tuesday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said that the prisoner swap deal between the US and Iran is “on track.”

US officials say the $6bn will be moved to “restricted accounts” that can be accessed solely for “humanitarian purposes”, while Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said that the released assets would be used to enhance domestic production.