Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed the use of Tehran’s assets in a phone conversation the Iranian diplomat had with his counterpart in Doha. According to the report at Iran’s Tasnim News, the Iranians were re-assured that “implementation” of a deal for Iran to access billions of dollars prior to October 7 would take place. This comes despite pressure to block Iran from the frozen assets that had been transferred to Doha in September.
The story of the Iranian assets is complex, but basically it involves $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds that were transferred to Qatari banks from South Korea in September. The funds were released as part of a prisoner deal. But the US Congress has sought to block the funds because of Iran’s support for the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders and Iran’s foreign minister has met with Hamas in Doha in the past. Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has said over the last several months that Iran will get access to the money.
Iran has claimed that the US is “duty bound” to fulfill the obligations of the deal that took place before the October attack. “It is unacceptable that the US Congress is turning a blind eye to the crimes against the Palestinian people, putting the blame on Iran and seeking to wriggle out of its legal commitments toward the Iranian government and people.”
The new report by Tasnim News says that the top Iranian diplomat spoke to his Qatari counterpart about this issue. They also discussed the close relations between the countries and also Gaza and the region. “The prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, while presenting a positive assessment of the growing relations between the two countries regarding Iran’s use of Qatar’s assets, said: ‘Doha and Washington are committed to the existing agreement, and according to the agreement between the Central Bank of Iran and Qatar, the implementation steps are under way,’” the report at Tasnim said.
Iran: The US is “duty bound”
The Iranian media noted that, after the October 7 attack, “there were rumors about the re-blocking of these assets by the United States with the claim of Tehran’s financial support for Hamas operations, and Tehran immediately denied these claims and rumors.” According to the Iranian report, the diplomats both discussed support for a ceasefire and “political work.”