Iran asked for the U.S. to unfreeze $10 billion of its funds in order to restart nuclear talks, Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that the unfreezing of funds would be a sign of good will, according to Reuters.
“The Americans tried to contact us through different channels (at the U.N. General Assembly) in New York, and I told the mediators if America’s intentions are serious then a serious indication was needed … by releasing at least $10 billion of blocked money,” the official said during a state television interview, Reuters reported.
“They are not willing to free $10 billion belonging to the Iranian nation so that we can say that the Americans once in the past several decades considered the interests of the Iranian nation,” he added.
Iran has been unable to access billions of dollars of its foreign funds due to U.S. sanctions on the country.
The U.S. has been trying to restart nuclear talks with Iran after former President Trump withdrew the country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA), commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, in 2018. The deal was first established under former President Obama with other countries in 2015.
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