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Al-Monitor – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said that more of Iran’s blocked money would be released very soon in a deal involving the release of dual nationals in Iran. The move is a sign that the nuclear negotiations, while appearing deadlocked, are still moving along.
When asked by a Fars News Agency journalist about the veracity of reports that Iranian money currently blocked by sanctions could be released, Khatibzadeh said that the news is accurate. He added that a high-ranking delegation would soon travel to Iran to finalize the matter.
According to Arab media outlets, an Omani delegation is heading to Tehran to help finalize the deal between the United States and Iran, which are not negotiating directly in the nuclear talks.
A number of Iranian-American citizens are being held in Iran for “security-related issues,” which is widely understood as code for political reasons. The longest-held prisoner is Siamak Namazi, who was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2015. His father Baquer, who traveled to Iran to help secure his release, was also arrested in 2016. Morad Tahbaz, another Iranian-American citizen, is also still being held by Iran. There were rumors that he would be released with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe last month, but he was only temporarily furloughed.
The fate of the prisoners have been tied to the nuclear negotiations to get the United States back into the JCPOA and Iran back into full compliance. When the Trump administration exited the JCPOA, Iran took gradual steps out of compliance, increasing its enrichment levels and using higher-grade centrifuges.
On the status of the nuclear talks, Khatibzadeh said, “We have not yet reached a point where the Americans have shown a firm will to return to their commitments under the JCPOA and UNSC Resolution 2231.” He added that the United States is still pursuing Trump-era “maximum pressure” policies.
One of the lingering issues remaining is the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization. The Trump administration designated the IRGC an FTO in order to make it more difficult for the next administration to reenter the JCPOA. Iran wants the IRGC removed from the list. The Biden administration, looking ahead to the midterms and reelection, sees the political damage of doing so. Proponents of removing the designation say that the IRGC itself is already so sanctioned that most countries would not do business with it anyway.
