US releases $450 million in frozen Iran funds

The United States has authorized the release of a $450-million installment in Iranian assets that were frozen as punishment for Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, the State Department said Thursday.

It came after a new report by the UN’s nuclear watchdog found that Iran was complying with the terms of a November 2013 interim deal with world powers calling for a partial freeze to its controversial nuclear drive.

“Based on this confirmation and consistent with commitments the United States made under the Joint Plan of Action, the department of Treasury took the necessary steps pursuant to the JPOA to facilitate the release of a $450-million installment of Iran’s frozen funds,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

Iran has cut its stock of highly enriched uranium by 75 percent, the new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) revealed.

Under the November agreement, Iran pledged to “dilute” half of its highly enriched uranium by mid-April, with the rest to be converted by mid-July.

The IAEA report also said that progress on a plant in Tehran that will be used for the conversion of low-enriched uranium had been delayed, but that Iran had said this will not prevent it from fulfilling its part of the deal by the July 20 deadline.