Iran has said it alone will decide how to use billions of dollars of frozen assets to be released under an agreement with the United States.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the assets had not yet been released. He said that if they were not frozen they could be used to buy American goods such as soybeans and would not be allowed to finance terrorism.
However, Iranian Ambassador Ali Bahrain told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that Tehran would have sole control over the funds once the freeze on them is lifted.
“Iran is the only country that will decide what to do with its assets that are about to be unfrozen,” he said.
“I reject any claims [Washington] “It’s about… whether any other country should have a role to influence those decisions or those processes.”
US President Donald Trump reiterated Vance’s statements in a social media post on Tuesday.
“The money that the U.S. Treasury is issuing and/or sanctions goes into escrow controlled by the United States, and will be used exclusively for the United States to purchase food and medical supplies, including corn, wheat, and soybeans from our great American farmers,” Trump wrote. “These are things Iran desperately needs. This is a humanitarian crisis, and I think it’s important to help now, before it’s too late.”
Iranian state media reported that Washington had agreed to release $12 billion in frozen Iranian funds and temporarily ease sanctions on Iranian oil as part of talks aimed at ending the conflict.
Iran has long faced US sanctions and asset freezes since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the subsequent seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran.