BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 13. Iran's frozen assets abroad are expected to be unblocked in the coming weeks, Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ehsan Khandouzi said at a press conference in Tehran on June 13, 2023, Trend reports.
The minister said that as a result of the efforts of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Central Bank of Iran, positive progress has been made in the direction of unblocking Iran's frozen assets in abroad.
Answering the correspondent’s question about taking a loan from Iran's reserves in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Khandouzi added that this loan will not create any obligation for Iran to repay the funds. This loan will increase Iran's investment in the International Monetary Fund. An independent technical staff is currently working on this issue. It is hoped that these steps will help the Central Bank of Iran to manage the foreign exchange market in the country.
On May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany), and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.
Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
Recently, Iranian media made a report about the unblocking of $24 billion of Iran's frozen assets abroad. Of that, more than $10 billion is expected to be unblocked in Iraq, while $7 billion is in South Korea.
Also, an agreement was reached that the Central Bank of Iran can receive more than $6.7 billion from the reserve asset (SDR) in the IMF.
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