Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran channeled a portion of the country's frozen assets abroad, which were freed after the nuclear agreement by Iran and the P5+1, to industrial production, Mojtaba Khosrotaj, the Iranian deputy industry, mining, and trade minister said
The assets will be allocated for buying raw materials required for the industry sector, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Khosrotaj as saying May 4.
Last year, it was approved that the frozen assets which are freed are to be used to provide spare parts for the automotive industry, he added.
"Of course, the priority will be placed on using the assets to import basic goods and medicine," he said.
The latest talks by Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) ended in a framework agreement on April 2. The Islamic Republic and P5+1 are negotiating to find a way to reach a comprehensive accord to put an end to the decade-old nuclear dispute.
The fifth installment of Iran's frozen assets worth $490 million was settled in March.
That made a total sum of $2.45 billion released during the agreements between Iran and the P5+1 group.
Based on Iran-P5+1 agreements, Iran's frozen oil revenues had been settled in two stages of 4.2 billion and 2.8 billion dollars.
There is no concrete figure for the amount of Iran's frozen assets abroad. Head of the parliament Research Center Kazem Jalali said in August 2013 that foreign banks had blocked some $60 billion worth of Iranian assets. In turn, the US administration said that Iran's frozen assets are estimated to be $100 billion.
Edited by CN