As U.S.and Iranian negotiators met in Switzerland on Sunday, a regional analyst warned that a dispute over billions in potentially unfrozen Iranian assets could quickly test the durability of a fledgling interim agreement.The disagreement is emerging, they say, as Washington and Tehran begin implementing the memorandum of understanding signed June 17, with negotiators holding the first round of talks at Bürgenstock, near Lucerne, Switzerland.According to Iran International, President Masoud Pezeshkian had signaled Tehran's expectations early Sunday, saying, "$6 billion of our funds in Qatar will be returned.
Trump, who tried to deny Iran its rights, acknowledged them in his recent speech."The dispute traces back to discussions at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, where world leaders debated the issue.TRUMP DEFENDS WAR DEAL IN MARATHON PRESSER, USING SEMANTICS ON WHY IRAN IS GETTING $300 BILLIONAs U.S.-Iran talks opened Sunday in Switzerland, a dispute over who controls and monitors billions of dollars in potentially unfrozen Iranian assets emerged.(Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS)"We have taken their money, it isn't our money, it is their money, and we froze it," President Donald Trump said.
"At a certain point in time, I guess we're going to have to give it back."He also stressed that any access to the funds remains strictly conditional, writing on Truth Social that Iran would receive "not ten cents" during the 60-day negotiation period if it failed to uphold its commitments."There are effectively two competing narratives about the frozen funds," Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital."Releasing frozen assets is not simply an economic question.It is one of the central political tests of trust between Tehran and Washington and will likely become one of the first major implementation disputes in the weeks ahead," Vatanka added.Paragraph 11 of the MOU framework states that the United States "undertakes to make ...