Iran Demands Asset Thaw, Lebanon Ceasefire Before US Talks

Iran has demanded the unfreezing of its overseas assets and a ceasefire extending to Lebanon as preconditions for upcoming negotiations with the United States in Islamabad, Pakistan, complicating a fragile two-week truce aimed at ending the monthlong conflict in West Asia.

The talks, scheduled to begin on Saturday, follow a ceasefire agreement reached on April 8 between Washington and Tehran, which has temporarily halted direct U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated that these two measures, which he described as mutually agreed upon, must be fully implemented before discussions can proceed. "Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented—a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran's blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations. These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin," Ghalibaf said in a post on X.

The frozen assets, estimated at tens of billions of dollars primarily from oil and gas exports, have been inaccessible due to U.S. sanctions on Iran's banking and energy sectors. Iran maintains that the ceasefire includes a halt to Israeli...