Tehran Says Unfreezing Iran's Blocked Funds Could Help Build Trust with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi has said unfreezing Iran’s blocked funds in other countries could be a significant initial step for the United States to earn Tehran’s trust.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, published on Friday, Araghchi acknowledged the challenge of overcoming the deep-seated mistrust but added that the U.S. could take several measures to build confidence, with the release of Iran’s frozen assets in other countries being among the foremost ones, The Caspian Post reports, citing IRNA.

"We have a long relationship with America and unfortunately, this history is full of very bad and negative events and positions to the extent of hostility and enmity with the Islamic Republic of Iran by America," Araghchi said.

"Since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution and the beginning of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we were regularly faced with these hostility and actions of the U.S. against Iran," he said, adding, You mentioned the last example of the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and other cases such as the assassination of Lieutenant General Soleimani and other attacks that were carried out, all these events are a history full of hostility and most importantly a history full of mistrust between Iran and America caused by the U.S and Of course, all this cannot be compensated with one word.

Pointing out that Iran closely monitors the positions of the new U.S. administration, Araghchi said, "The former U.S. administration not only did not have good positions towards Iran, but also had very hostile positions, the policy of pressure on Iran and severe sanctions against Iran even increased in the former US administration."