Iran-US agreement: Prisoner exchange and frozen funds release
Shafaq News / Official Iranian state media sources have revealed details of a recent agreement between Iran and the US, brokered with the involvement of a third-party nation. The accord encompasses a prisoner exchange initiative between the two countries, as well as the release of Iranian funds that had been frozen in South Korea and Iraq.
According to reports from the official Iranian news agency "IRNA", a source familiar with the matter disclosed that the agreement mandates Iran to release five American prisoners, contingent upon the release of five Iranian prisoners within the US.
In addition to this, the agreement outlines the release of a substantial sum of approximately six billion dollars from Iranian funds that had been held in South Korea.
Furthermore, a significant portion of Iranian assets currently held within Iraq's TBI bank will also be unlocked.
The source indicated that the initial steps for the unfreezing of Iranian assets in European financial institutions have already been initiated.
The source also provided insight into the financial dynamics of the agreement. Iranian assets, which were previously held in South Korean Won, are set to be converted into Euros as part of the arrangement. Following the conversion, these funds will then be routed through a Swiss bank before ultimately being channeled into a Qatari bank account, thereby facilitating Iran's access to them.
The official source highlighted a crucial precondition for the release of the American prisoners – the complete transfer of Iranian funds to Qatar must be accomplished beforehand.
The same source highlighted that the prisoner exchange process is slated to take place in Qatar, subsequent to Iran ensuring its ability to seamlessly repatriate its funds from an Iranian-held account in Qatar.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an official statement pertaining to the Iranian-US agreement, particularly regarding the prisoner exchange and the release of Iranian funds that had been held by the US.
In the statement, the Ministry stressed the commencement of the process aimed at releasing billions of dollars in Iranian assets that had been unlawfully seized by the US in South Korea over an extended period.
The ministry emphasized that the necessary safeguards have been secured to ensure the US adherence to its commitments in this regard.
The statement further elucidated that the issue of releasing the Iranian frozen assets, coupled with the removal of sanctions-imposed restrictions on its financial resources, which had been subjected to unlawful prohibition or difficulty in access due to concerns of foreign financial institutions over punitive US sanctions, has consistently been a focal point on the agenda of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
The statement concluded by affirming that the utilization of the released assets will be at the discretion of Iran, with competent authorities overseeing expenditure in alignment with the nation's diverse requirements.
