Tehran accused the US administration of waging a “psychological war,” a day after Washington denied releasing $3.5 billion of Iran’s frozen funds abroad.
“The United States has not released any money to Iran. Any such report to the contrary is incorrect,” State Department spokesman Ned Price affirmed.
“We also understand that our partners have not transferred frozen funds to Iran, not even South Korea,” he stressed.
“And of course, the US has not authorized or approved any such frozen transfers to Iran. All of our current sanctions remain in effect. They will remain in effect until and unless we’re able to reach a diplomatic agreement,” in Vienna.
Price’s remarks, which coincide with a new round of talks in the Austrian capital, are part of a “psychological war” against Iran, state TV quoted an informed source as saying.
These remarks “will not affect what has actually happened,” the source added.
One of the countries will soon release the frozen assets under the sanctions imposed by Donald Trump’s administration on Iranian oil sales, deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari said on Thursday.
He added that $3.5 billion of Iranian assets have been released, noting that the government had requested other countries to release larger numbers
“Fruitful negotiations were held in this regard,” Safari confirmed, while declining to reveal the amount discussed.
In mid-November, the Central Bank said one billion dollars from the released funds would be allotted for the import of “essential goods.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian rial currency dipped last week but remained above historic lows after news that talks with world powers to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear accord may have run into difficulties.
The US dollar was selling for as much as 302,200 rials on the unofficial market on Saturday, up from 294,000 on Friday.
In October 2020, the rial hit a record low of about 320,000 to a dollar as a drop in oil prices deepened the economic crisis in the country already reeling under US sanctions and the highest COVID-19 death toll in the Middle East.
