Iran is seeking to unfreeze billions of dollars worth of funds frozen by a subsidiary of the German stock exchange in Luxembourg, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Thursday, following setbacks in the conflict with Israel.
The money is deposited in the form of securities with Clearstream, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Börse in Luxembourg as well as with an Italian bank.
Hit with harsh US-led sanctions, Iran faces deepening economic problems at home and the challenge of replenishing its military capabilities and those of armed allies in the Middle East after over a year of fighting spanning the region.
Originally belonging to Iran's central bank, the funds originally valued at just below $4.9 billion were frozen in 2008 at the insistence of Washington and were claimed as damages for victims of a 1983 US military barracks bombing in Beirut.
That attack killed 241 US troops and was blamed on militants belonging to a group which would become Lebanese Hezbollah acting with alleged Iranian backing.
According to Der Spiegel, which did not disclose its sourcing, an executive it named as Majid A. with US-sanctioned state oil company Sepehr Energy is leading an effort to reclaim the funds.
The executive and his associates, it added, have applied for European visas to argue the case.
Der Spiegel appeared to be referring to Majid A’zami, the managing director of Sepehr Energy, who was put under US Treasury sanctions in 2023.
Iran's central bank sued Clearstream in 2018 to pay out the $4.9 billion plus interest but around $1.9 billion was transferred to a US account five years previously to pay victims of the Beirut attack and their families.
