Iran has no blocked funds in China, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday, refuting media reports, according to which $20 billion of the country's assets were frozen in the Asian country
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2020) Iran has no blocked funds in China, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday, refuting media reports, according to which $20 billion of the country's assets were frozen in the Asian country.
Iranian newspaper Jahane Sanaat reported on October 15 that at least part of the $20 billion of assets were earned from Iranian oil exports to China before the US imposed a total ban on banking transactions with the Iranian petroleum industry. Another $20 billion of Iran's oil money is reportedly frozen in other countries.
"The news is fundamentally false and Iran has no blocked funds in China," Khatibzadeh said, as cited by Iran International broadcaster.
The spokesperson added that there were certain Iranian assets in China, but they are used in economic cooperation between the countries.
Iranian assets were first frozen by the US in 1979 in response to the Iranian revolution and the detainment of items belonging to the US Embassy to Tehran.
In one of the most recent large-scale campaigns, a large amount of Iranian funds were blocked when the US imposed in 2018 new sanctions on companies engaged in Iranian oil import.
According to media reports, citing US officials, the amount of Iran's blocked assets varies from $100 to $120 billion, among which $35 billion are in the EU countries, $22 billion in China, $7 billion in South Korea and $5 billion in Iraq.
