Ghalibaf's Doha visit aims to release $12 billion of Iran's frozen assets

An informed source close to the Iranian negotiating team told Tasnim on Tuesday that, according to the 14-article text of the memorandum of understanding (MoU), Iran's frozen assets are to be released during the negotiations, with the total amount estimated at $24 billion. The source stated that Iran insists that half of that amount must be made available upon the announcement of the MoU, while the remaining funds are to be transferred within 60 days.

The source noted that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's recent visit to Qatar was aimed at reaching an understanding on implementing this Iranian demand and the mechanism for accessing $12 billion in the first stage, as well as removing obstacles. The source explained that, given the experience of previous arrangements on the release of Iranian funds in South Korea and Qatar, emphasis was placed on carefully following the implementation stages so that such experiences would not be repeated. For this reason, the visit was made using lessons from the previous round so that there would be no disruption in access to these funds, and in this regard, the visit produced good results.

"The Qatar talks were generally good and contributed to progress in the overall negotiations. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that the United States is known as a party that does not honor its commitments, and therefore Iran approaches the issues with great caution," the source stated.

Meanwhile, another informed source reacted to remarks by the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson that Qatar would not provide funds as a guarantee for the Iran-US agreement. The source told Tasnim that the Qatari statement is generally not incorrect, as the resources under discussion in Doha belong to Iran and have nothing to do with any guarantee for the agreement. The source added that, due to previous experiences, Iran is pursuing the return of these funds with full precision and strictness.

According to Mehr News Agency, the report by Tasnim highlighted that the negotiations also involved Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, and focused on the broader context of US-Iran talks and the threat of US-Israeli aggression on Iran.