Iran receives frozen assets after talks’ extension
By Sara Rajabova
Tehran has received the new installments of its frozen assets which were agreed upon following the extended nuclear deadline with P5+1 group.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) received the installments as part of the second phase of the unblocking of the country’s frozen assets, Iranian media reported.
The 5th part worth $500 million, which was frozen in South Korea was transferred to Iranian Central Bank's account in Oman, meanwhile an amount of $400 million, blocked in India was transferred to the bank’s account in the UAE as 6th part of the payments.
The latest payments brought the total paid amount of the second phase to $ 2.8 billion.
The first phase enabled the release of $ 4.2 billion of the country’s assets.
Last November, Iran and the P5+1 group -- France, Britain, the U.S., Russia and China, plus Germany - clinched an interim nuclear deal that took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. However, they agreed to extend their talks until November 24 as they remained divided on a number of key issues.
Missing the deadline to arrive at a comprehensive accord, the two sides decided to extend their discussions for seven more months in the search for the final deal that would end a 12-year dispute on Iran’s nuclear work.
An additional $4.2 billion worth of Iranian frozen assets will be released during the next six months according to the new extension agreement.
There is no concrete figure for the amount of Iran's frozen assets abroad. Head of the parliament Research Center Kazem Jalali said in August 2013 that some $60 billion worth of Iranian assets were blocked by foreign banks. In turn, the U.S. administration said Iran's frozen assets are estimated to be $100 billion.
Meanwhile, the EU has extended a freeze on certain sanctions imposed against Iran over the country’s nuclear program.
Following the extension of talks until July 1, 2015, the EU's diplomatic service said in a statement on November 25 that the 28-member bloc "extended until June 30, 2015, the suspension of EU restrictive measures" through a written procedure, Press TV reported.
The EU's freeze extension incorporates suspension of sanctions on oil transport insurance, trade in gold, precious metals and petrochemical products. The bloc also raised a ceiling on financial transfers not related to remaining sanctions.
The suspensions were agreed after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on November 14 confirmed that Iran has complied with the interim agreement it reached with the P5+1 group of world powers.
The U.S. and EU imposed sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors at the beginning of 2012 due to claims of potential deviation toward non-civilian purposes in Iran's nuclear energy program. Iran has repeatedly denied the Western allegations against its nuclear energy program.
The sanctions are aimed to prevent other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. At the end of 2012, the EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on another round of sanctions against Iran.