IRAN-USA / DETAINED (PHOTO) – REUTERS Agency
Aug 12 (Reuters) – The head of Iran’s central bank said on Saturday that all funds frozen by Iran in South Korea had been released and would be used for “non-sanctioned goods”.
Mohammad Reza Farzin’s social media post appeared to confirm comments made a day earlier by Washington, which said there would be restrictions on what Iran could do with unfrozen funds under a fledgling deal that has led to house arrest from prison in five Americans in Tehran.
White House spokesman John Kirby said Iran would only be able to access the funds “to buy food, medicine, medical equipment that does not have dual military use.” An estimated $6 billion in Iranian assets have been held in South Korea.
The five Americans will be allowed to leave Iran once the funds are unfrozen, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Farzin wrote in a post on the X messaging platform, formerly known as Twitter, that the funds would be transferred to six Iranian banks in Qatar.
“Congratulations to the currency diplomacy team for successfully releasing the seized foreign currency resources,” he said in the post.
He added that the costs of converting funds from the South Korean currency, the won, to euros would be accepted by the “third country” where the money would be deposited to buy “non-sanctioned goods.” (Reporting by the Dubai Newsroom, Edited in Spanish by Manuel Farías)
Source: Ambito
