▲ Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran
A U.S. government official has denied Iran's claim that a portion of its frozen assets should be released immediately after the United States and Iran sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war on the 19th, CNN reported on June 15 (local time).
The official stated, "This is absolutely not true. This is a performance-based agreement, and if the Iranian side does not fulfill its obligations, the frozen funds will not be released."
This position from the U.S. government official conflicts with Iran's stance that negotiations can only continue after the signing of the MOU if the release of some of the frozen assets is confirmed.
Immediately after the announcement of the agreement, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, said in a phone interview broadcast on Iranian state television that the 60-day negotiation period, which will begin after the U.S. and Iran sign the MOU on the 19th, depends on whether the U.S. keeps three promises.
According to Deputy Minister Gharibabadi, the three promises the U.S. must keep are "the lifting and termination of the maritime blockade," "the end of the state of war and military operations," and "the release of frozen Iranian assets."
He stated, "Entering into the 60-day negotiation is conditional on the U.S. fulfilling its promises," adding that working group negotiations would begin immediately once Iran verifies the U.S.'s implementation of these commitments.
While noting that some aspects regarding how future negotiations will proceed have been discussed, he said that discussions on the structure of the negotiations, the composition of working groups, and other necessary agreements will take place at additional meetings in Switzerland following the official MOU signing ceremony.
According to previous reports, Iran has maintained the position that it would only engage in negotiations after the signing of the MOU if at least $12 billion (18 trillion KRW) of its estimated $100 billion (150 trillion KRW) in frozen assets were released.
It is not yet clear whether this demand from Iran has been reflected in the final text of the MOU scheduled to be signed on the 19th, and the full text of the MOU has not been made public.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.