Day 116 | Iran clashes with US over terms of frozen funds

US President Donald Trump said that any frozen Iranian funds slated for release will not be granted as unrestricted cash. Instead, the money will be tied directly to the American agricultural sector.

However, the announcement was immediately met with a fierce rhetorical clash over the financial terms of the deal. While US President Trump asserted that the unfrozen capital would be ring-fenced "exclusively" to purchase agricultural products and food from American farmers, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran swiftly and publicly issued a flat denial.

In a direct pushback against the White House narrative, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran stated that the signed legal texts regarding the release of the frozen funds carry absolutely no clauses binding or forcing Tehran to purchase agricultural inputs from the United States.

According to Iran's top banking authority, the operational flexibility of the agreement extends far beyond the agricultural limits outlined by US officials.

The Governor emphasized that for the "second batch" of unblocked funds, the Central Bank is legally entitled to purchase any non-sanctioned goods and commodities on the global market, choosing whichever trading partners it sees fit.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf officially announced that negotiators in Switzerland successfully secured an agreement to release $12 billion of Iran's blocked global assets.