Hours after the US and Iran announced a peace deal, the two governments are offering contradictory accounts of what they actually agreed to — with Tehran claiming Washington committed to releasing $12 billion in frozen assets before formal negotiations begin, and a senior US official flatly rejecting that characterization as “completely not true.”
The dispute surfaced Sunday after Mehr News Agency, Iran’s state-affiliated outlet, released what it described as the text of a 14-point draft agreement. The document calls for the phased release of $24 billion in frozen assets across the negotiating period — with Tehran receiving half, or $12 billion, before talks begin.
Related: US and Iran Reach Peace Deal, with Signing Ceremony Set for Friday in Switzerland
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Sunday that Iran will not enter the 60-day period until Washington fulfills three preconditions: ending military operations on all fronts, lifting the US naval blockade, and releasing frozen funds.
“Entry into the 60-day negotiations is conditional on US implementation of its commitments,” he told reporters, describing the memorandum as built on “active distrust” of Washington.
Washington pushed back immediately, with a senior US official telling CNN that the arrangement is “pay-for-performance” — no frozen funds move without Iran first implementing its commitments. A separate official told Axios that Tehran’s account amounted to a “spin.” The administration maintained throughout negotiations that it would give no money to Iran in exchange for a deal.
As of this writing, neither government has released an authorized text of the memorandum. Gharibabadi confirmed Tehran will release the full document only after the June 19 signing ceremony in Switzerland. Multiple versions have circulated with materially different terms. Reuters placed the frozen asset figure at $25 billion, as earlier reported, while a version obtained by Bloomberg contained no frozen asset clause at all.
The Mehr draft also includes a provision requiring the US and its allies to present reconstruction plans for Iran worth at least $300 billion. Diplomatic sources previously told the New York Times that the provision is better understood as a US-facilitated international investment vehicle — one that would only materialize under a permanent agreement, not at the memorandum’s signing.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday that G7 leaders would convene in Evian, France on Monday to discuss the deal’s consequences, flagging the Hormuz reopening and Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programs as agenda items.
The official signing ceremony remains on schedule for June 19 in Switzerland. Neither the full text nor the resolution of its disputed financial terms will be available until both parties sign.
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