Iran to receive frozen assets under Vienna deal
By Sara Rajabova
Iran will receive first portion of Iran's frozen assets released under the Geneva deal between the country and P5+1 group.
A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator said the first portion of Iran's frozen assets is scheduled to be deposited to Central Bank of Iran's (CBI) account, Press TV reported.
Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, who is also Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said $ 500 million of Iran's assets has been released, adding, coordination is being made between the two sides to deposit the amount to the CBI.
He said the amount is the first installment of a total of $ 2.8 billon to be released within the framework of recent agreement between Iran and the P5+1, referring to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany.
Based on the July agreement between the two sides in Vienna, the $2.8 billion amount will be paid to Iran in six parts - four $500-million and two $ 400-million installments, in three-week intervals.
Earlier, Iran received the frozen assets that were promised as part of November nuclear deal between the country and P5+1 group in Geneva. CBI received the $4.2 billion in frozen oil earnings in six tranches.
Iran and the six countries are to resume their negotiations to discuss a final agreement over Tehran's nuclear energy program in September. Iran's right to enrich uranium is among the bones of contention between the two sides.
Under the Geneva interim deal, Iran scaled back its nuclear energy program and agreed to the Western demand for more inspections of its nuclear activities. In return the country was provided with partial sanctions relief.
In July, the two sides agreed on the extension of their discussions until November 24 in an effort to achieve a permanent nuclear deal.
The United States and European nations have imposed severe economic sanctions on Iran in recent years aiming to pressure Tehran to dramatically reduce its nuclear program for a lengthy period of time to keep it from developing nuclear weapons.
However, Iran has denied the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.