TEHRAN - Iraq has released Iran’s funds blocked at Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) for the import of food and medical data-x-items by the Islamic Republic, an Iranian official says.
In a letter addressed to all associations of food, pharmaceutical and health industries, Homa Alvandi, caretaker of the Office of Food and Pharmaceutical Industries at the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade referred to the capacity created for the use of Iran’s foreign exchange resources at TBI.
She asked the associations to announce their proposed import data-x-items and specify their urgency.
The exact amount of the Iraqi debt is not known. In the past, Iranian officials have said between $6 billion and $7 billion of Iranian funds are held in the Arab country.
Iraq owes the money to Iran for importing gas and electricity, which has continued despite illegal U.S. sanctions, but Tehran has been unable to obtain its assets frozen in Iraqi banks under U.S. pressure.
Iraq has paid some of its debts over the years, but U.S. sanctions and economic troubles in the Arab country have made the transfer of money much slower than Iran expected.
Iran gets paid partly in cash, but it mostly receives goods from Iraq to cover the debt.
The country imports a wide range of goods from Iran, including food, agricultural products, home appliances, air conditioners and car parts.

CBI Urges South Korea to Return Iran’s Frozen Assets

Meanwhile, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has submitted a letter of intent (LOI) for Investor-State Dispute Settlement(ISDS), requesting South Korea to return its frozen assets locked in Korean banks.
According to a foreign ministry official in Seoul on Friday, the government received the LOI last September and has been seeking to resolve the dispute over Iran’s frozen assets under U.S. sanctions.
Iran will likely complain to the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes if the two countries do not find a negotiated solution within the next six months after accepting the letter.
If the two countries fail to find any solution through negotiations within six months after the LOI was accepted, Iran may file an Investor-State Dispute (ISD) suit.
Informed sources told Yonhap News Agency today that officials in Seoul and Tehran are planning a working meeting next month to discuss Iran’s frozen assets in South Korean banks.
Earlier, the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and South Korea met in Austria to discuss Tehran’s blocked money in Seoul banks.
“South Korea and Iran plan to hold working-level talks in Seoul next month to find ways to resolve the years-long dispute over Tehran’s frozen assets,” Yonhap was quoted as saying by an informed source.
At the meeting, which was held at the request of the Korean side and held at the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Vienna, the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Korea, referring to the importance of Seoul-Tehran relations, explained the blocked Iranian assets with South Korea, saying that his country is trying to repay its debt to Iran.
The frozen asset issue started in 2018 when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated economic sanctions against Iran.