Published On 1/7/2026
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Last update: 15:12 (Mecca time)
In the technical talks it is holding with the United States, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan today, Wednesday in Doha, Iran stresses the need to release its frozen funds, as a first step to move forward in implementing the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two parties, but Washington believes that this release is linked to conditions.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Doha meeting will focus on the issue of releasing Iran’s frozen funds, and Kazem Gharibabadi, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, will discuss with the Qatari side the implementation of the terms of the memorandum of understanding.
In the same context, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tehran, Omar Hawash, said that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei confirmed that the main file that will be discussed today in Doha is the file of frozen Iranian funds and the release of part of them.
The Iranian delegation to the Doha talks is headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister, and on the American side are advisors to President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Iran says, through its officials, that one of the most important economic provisions in the memorandum of understanding stipulated that it would receive a portion of its frozen funds once the memorandum was signed, but to date it has not received any amount of these funds.
Qatari-Iranian understanding
It is noteworthy that Gharibabadi said a few days ago that an understanding had been reached between Tehran and Doha earlier regarding the frozen funds file.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman also stated yesterday that “Iran and Qatar have made significant progress in this regard, and it is hoped that these funds will be released during today’s talks.”
Hawash says, “The discussions in Doha are Iranian-Qatari discussions, not Iranian-American discussions,” but that does not prevent Qatar, as a mediating country, from exchanging messages between the Iranian and American delegations.
In the same context, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari clarified yesterday, Tuesday, that Iran’s frozen funds amounting to $6 billion have not been transferred to Tehran yet, and indicated that this will be agreed upon between the American and Iranian parties, saying that the issue of the frozen funds is linked to the development of the negotiations.
According to the Al Jazeera correspondent, Qatar is one of the main mediators, in addition to Pakistan, in the negotiations between Tehran and Washington. In addition, Qatar has $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds in one of the Qatari accounts there.
These amounts were provided or came from South Korea in 2023 as part of an Iranian-American deal to exchange prisoners and release part of the funds.
The United States transferred money from Korea to Doha, but refrained from transferring it to the Iranian side as part of the pressure on Tehran at that time, so the Iranians are heading to Doha – as Al Jazeera’s correspondent says – in order to release part of this money.
Conflicting news
Tehran demands the immediate release of $12 billion in two stages within a 60-day period, starting with $6 billion deposited in Qatari banks.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent says that there are conflicting reports regarding these numbers, but the latest thing that the Iranians say is that they will receive $12 billion within 60 days, the first part of which they hope to obtain in the coming days through negotiations with Qatar.
According to Bloomberg estimates, the total frozen Iranian funds and assets range between $100 and $120 billion, accumulated over 47 years.
Iran will receive all the amounts when the final agreement is reached, and when the outstanding issues in the area of the nuclear file and the US sanctions file on Tehran are resolved.
Hawash believes that the Iranians will not receive cash amounts, but rather through a credit line that enables them to purchase basic goods and medicines, according to an agreement also for the year 2023 between the two sides, which did not achieve progress at that time due to continued pressure and the failure to reach an agreement at that time.
The Iranians confirm that they are not obligated to buy American goods and agricultural products, as the Americans always declare, and Tehran says that it has the right to determine the commodity it needs and announce it according to what is determined by the Iranian Central Bank.
The Financial Times newspaper had previously reported that the administration of President Donald Trump had agreed to allow Iran to begin accessing $6 billion of its oil funds held in Qatar to purchase American products, following the first round of high-level talks between the two sides.
