Iran says $100 billion in frozen assets ‘fully released’

Special to WorldTribune.com

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Iran says it now has access to more than $100 billion worth of overseas assets that were unfrozen as a result of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers.

Government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said much of the money was stored in banks in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey and had been frozen by international sanctions that were tightened in 2012 due to Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

Mohammad Bagher Nobakh.
Mohammad Bagher Nobakh.

“These assets have fully been released and we can use them,” Nobakht said in a statement on the website of state-run Press TV.

Much of the money will stay in the banks, he said, as Iran will be purchasing goods abroad.

Meanwhile, central bank official Nasser Hakimi was quoted as saying nine Iranian banks are now reconnected to SWIFT, the Belgian-based organization that permits wire transfers between financial institutions around the world.

The historic nuclear agreement signed last year brought about the lifting of international sanctions last month after the UN certified that Tehran had met all of its commitments toward curbing its nuclear activities.

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