Momentum for a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran is building, with the primary objective of ending their ongoing war. However, the status of Tehran’s overseas assets, valued at more than $100bn, has emerged as a central point of contention.
The talks are scheduled to resume shortly, preceding the expiration of the current US-Iran ceasefire in the early hours of 22 April. Ahead of the initial session in Pakistan on 10 April, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, stated that revenues held in foreign banks must be released before negotiations could proceed.
Conflicting reports surfaced following the Islamabad talks on 11 April, with suggestions that Washington had agreed to unfreeze some assets, reports Al Jazeera.
These claims were promptly dismissed by the US government, which maintains that the funds remain restricted. Tehran is currently seeking the release of at least $6bn as a confidence-building measure.
The frozen sum is approximately three times Iran’s annual hydrocarbon earnings and represents nearly a quarter of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
Frederic Schneider, a nonresident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, described the amount as a “very substantial sum,” particularly for a society enduring decades of US-led sanctions.
According to Iranian media reports, these assets are distributed globally. China holds at least $20bn, India $7bn, and Iraq and Qatar each hold approximately $6bn. The United States holds roughly $2bn, while Luxembourg and Japan hold $1.6bn and $1.5bn respectively. The $6bn currently in Qatar was moved from South Korea as part of a 2023 prisoner swap, but President Joe Biden re-blocked the funds following an Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel.
Access remains complicated. Jacob Lew, the former US Treasury Secretary, previously noted that even if sanctions were lifted, Iran might only access about half of the funds, as the remainder is often tied to prior investment commitments or loan repayments.
The practice of freezing Iranian assets dates to November 1979, when President Jimmy Carter declared the nation an “extraordinary threat” during the embassy hostage crisis.
While the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action briefly restored access to these funds, Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the pact led to the reimposition of sanctions.
Critics have pointed to the selective use of such measures, noting that while Western rivals like Russia and North Korea face freezes, nations like Israel have not, despite accusations of rights abuses
