Qatar has clarified the circulating news about the transfer of $6 billion allocated to Iran, saying that this money has not been provided to Iran yet, nor does Tehran have direct access to it.
According to Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari, these funds are the income from Iran’s oil sales that was previously frozen in South Korea. He said that this money was transferred from South Korea to Qatar after the prisoner exchange agreement between the US and Iran in 2023.
According to the spokesman, under this agreement, both countries had released five prisoners each, but despite this progress, the relevant financial resources have not been handed over to Iran.
He said that all these funds are currently in Qatari banks and are subject to US sanctions. That is why Iran cannot use these funds freely.
Majid Al-Ansari clarified that contrary to some reports, the funds were not transferred to Tehran despite the recent statement of the Iranian president. According to him, there has been no new development in this regard.
He added that although this money is legally owned by Iran, all matters of its use and possible transfer are decided under US supervision and sanctions. Qatar does not own these funds, but is only hosting them.
According to observers, Qatar’s latest statement has made the uncertainty surrounding this issue quite clear. They say that as long as there is no change in US sanctions and related conditions, Iran’s possibility of getting full access to these funds will remain limited.