Iranian negotiators are demanding the immediate release of $12 billion in frozen assets held in Qatar as a precondition for advancing talks with the United States, an informed source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told Iran International.
According to the source, the release of these specific funds in Qatar is a strict precondition for the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stage.
Tehran has insisted that actual, guaranteed access to this $12 billion must be granted during this first phase before any preliminary diplomatic understanding can move forward, the source said.
The source emphasized that this $12 billion represents only the immediate tranche required to initiate the diplomatic roadmap, and is not the only capital Iran is claiming.
Tehran's broader negotiating position is that all of its frozen assets globally must be unfrozen and fully released as part of any eventual comprehensive agreement, according to the source.
Earlier in the day, IRGC-linked Tasnim News reported that differences between Iran and the United States over one or two clauses of a possible memorandum of understanding remained unresolved.
Tasnim also reported on Sunday that Iran has insisted any initial memorandum of understanding with the United States should include the release of at least part of its frozen assets in the first step.
The report said Tehran had stressed that the released funds must be accessible to Iran.
It added that Washington had sought in recent weeks to link the release of the assets to a possible final nuclear agreement.
Iran wants part of the funds released at the start of any MOU and a mechanism set for releasing the rest during negotiations, according to the report.
Later in the day, Tasnim said US obstruction of some clauses in a potential agreement with Iran, including the release of Tehran’s blocked assets, was still continuing.
Accordingly, there is still a possibility that the agreement could be canceled, Tasnim's report added.
In April, Reuters reported that Washington had agreed to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar and other banks.
The funds, linked to Iranian oil sales to South Korea, were moved to Qatari accounts under a 2023 prisoner swap but remained restricted to humanitarian use under US oversight, according to the report.
