TEL AVIV: The United States said on Thursday that Iran would not gain access any time soon to 6 billion dollars in Iranian funds parked in a Qatar bank in September as part of a prisoner exchange and that US retained the right to completely freeze the account.
The question of Iranian access to the funds has been in the spotlight since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday, killing over 1,300 people and taking scores of hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking at a media conference in Tel Aviv, said that Tehran had neither accessed nor spent any of the 6 billion dollars.
Blinken said the US Treasury oversees any disbursement to ensure it is used only for humanitarian purposes.
Several US media organizations reported on Thursday that the US and Qatar had agreed to stop Iran from accessing the money.
Tehran’s United Nations mission said the US government was completely aware that they cannot renege on the agreement reached over the money, which was transferred to Qatar from an account in South Korea to make it accessible for humanitarian needs in Iran.
The Iranian oil revenues had been frozen in Seoul after US, under former President Donald Trump, placed a total ban on Tehran’s oil exports and sanctioned its banks in 2019.
Money rightfully belongs to Iranians
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said that the money rightfully belongs to the people of Iran, reserved for the government of the Iran to facilitate the acquisition of all necessary and non-sanctioned requisites for its nationals.
