Iran claims back $2.7bln previously frozen by Iraq under US sanctions
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The Islamic Republic is also expecting several billion dollars in frozen assets to be released from South Korea soon.
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Iranian flag waves in Tehran, Iran, on March 31, 2020 (AP)
Baghdad announced that $2.7 billion belonging to Iran and previously frozen under US sanctions were released, head of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce Yahya Ale Eshaq told Tasnim News Agency on Saturday.
ISNA reported earlier this week that 24 billion dollars are scheduled to be soon unfrozen for Iran from Iraq and South Korea in the near future following the visit of the Sultan of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, to Tehran end of May.
South Korea will release $7 billion in assets, while Iraq will free more than $10 billion in assets, the most related to oil exports, the agency said.
Following the visit of the Sultan of Oman to Iran and the visit of the US President's aide to Oman, it was decided to release the frozen assets in the form of an understanding with Iran, ISNA said.
Furthermore, it was announced that Iran will be allowed to access more than $6.7 billion of its special drawing rights following a recent meeting in Washington between the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin, and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva.
In March, the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the partial freeze of Iranian assets by the US is illegal and that the US is now required to pay compensation for the consequences and violations of international obligations. The ruling came despite Washington's opposition, which requested that the "case should be dismissed in its entirety based on the principle of unclean hands," without offering evidence of unlawful activities.
Kirill Gevorgian, vice-president of the court, stated how the US has effectively violated its commitments under the Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights of 1955 with Iran, now becoming obliged to pay Iran.
