BERLIN – Germany rejects Iran's demands for the United States to release frozen Iranian assets as a condition for nuclear talks to resume, Germany's foreign ministry said on Monday.
"Iran cannot set any further conditions for resuming the talks," a German foreign ministry spokesman said after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian's demand for assets worth $10 billion to be released as a goodwill gesture.
Iran said its demand that the US unblocks $10 billion of its oil funds trapped overseas is “one example” of what the US could do to generate good will before big-power talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal can restart, the country’s foreign ministry spokesman said
"We call on Iran to resume talks as soon as possible," the German foreign ministry spokesman said, adding he expects an agreement on a specific date.
ALSO READ: Iran says it asked US to unfreeze $10 billion to show good will
Under former President Donald Trump, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 agreement with Iran, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany aimed at stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
US President Joe Biden aims to restore the deal, but the sides disagree on which steps need to be taken and when, with the key issues being what constraints Tehran will accept and what sanctions Washington will remove.
Iran said its demand that the US unblocks $10 billion of its oil funds trapped overseas is “one example” of what Washington could do to generate good will before big-power talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal can restart, the country’s foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.
“The US can show that it’s changing its actions in many ways. Releasing $10 billion of our money is just one example,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman told reporters at a press conference.
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