Iran FM: US Needs to Unfreeze $10 Billion for Negotiations

Sees asset move as test of US sincerity

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian is calling on the US to unfreeze some $10 billion in Iranian assets as a sign of good faith, conditioning Iran’s return to nuclear negotiations on this .

Amirabdollahian said this was an opportunity to say just once that the US “considered the interests of the Iranian nation.” There has been no response from the State Department.

The odds don’t look great, however. The Biden Administration has been criticizing Iran’s new government since the election, and given the appearance of being tepid on renewing the talks in the first place.

That, and the long-standing US desire to brag about just how many Iranian assets they’ve frozen, makes a goodwill gesture extremely unlikely. If anything, it will be one more thing for the US to condemn them over, and another excuse when the talks don’t materialize.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.