Iran asks Central Bank of Azerbaijan to unblock its assets

Iran has launched talks with Azerbaijan about the unfreezing of its assets in accounts in Azerbaijan.

"Negotiations are under way, after the upcoming formal lifting of sanctions this autumn the frozen assets could be used for joint trade operations of the two neighboring countries," the head of the Joint Secretariat of the Iran-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Trade & Cooperation Commission, Mehdi Mohtashemi, said.

Originally, $120 million from blocked assets of Iranian individuals and legal entities for a total of $500 million can be freed. Iran made the corresponding request to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.

In total, Iranian assets frozen in foreign banks amount to $100-130 billion. The majority of the finances are stored in the banks of China, Japan, South Korea and Turkey.