Iran to receive next tranche of frozen assets
By Sara Rajabova
Iran will get the third tranche of frozen assets under the Vienna talks between Tehran and the six major world powers.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced that Tehran will receive the third installment of its $2.8-billion frozen assets on September 17, Iranian media reported.
The CBI said it has received the first two installments of its blocked assets so far, which are being returned to Tehran under a four-month extension of nuclear negotiations with the world powers.
It added that the two tranches, amounting to $1bln combined, have been transferred from its account in Japan to another account in Oman.
Iran and the Group5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) ended over two weeks of negotiations in Vienna on July 19 with no final agreement between the two sides which was due to be reached before the July 20 deadline.
At the end of their talks, the two sides agreed to extend the negotiations till November 24 for brokering a final deal.
The six world powers agreed in Vienna talks to release $2.8bln of Iran's frozen assets in six installments.
Iran is expected to receive the sum of $2.8 billion in three more installments, set to be paid on October 10, November 3, and November 23.
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 set to resume their negotiations to discuss a final agreement over Tehran's nuclear energy program on September 17. 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.