Iran denouces US 'empty' offers of aid, calls for overseas assets unblocking amid sanctions

Iran has censured the US for its "empty offers of aid" amid its sanctions agaist Tehran and the coronavirus pandemic, saying Washington had better unblock the Islamic Republic's assets in other parts of the world to prove its so-called benevolent gestures.  

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a post on his Twitter page on Wednesday that there was a great difference between the US words and deeds, as it kept offering aid to Iran while preventing the country from using its money to provide food and medicine for its people.   

"US keeps repeating empty offers of "aid". Here's an idea: Put ur policy where ur mouth is. Just stop blocking Iranian people's right to use their own money frozen in Korea, Iraq & Japan, to be used for food & medicine-amid pandemic," read part of the tweet.

To prove its intentions, the tweet said, the US could ask its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) agency to unfreeze Iran's money in South Korea and send it to a Swiss trade channel meant to help Iran avoid US sanctions.   

US keeps repeating empty offers of "aid".
Here's an idea: Put ur policy where ur mouth is. Just stop blocking Iranian people's right to use their own money frozen in Korea, Iraq& Japan, to be used for food & medicine-amid pandemic.

Simple. Ask OFAC to allow🇰🇷 to send our $ to🇨🇭

— Saeed Khatibzadeh (@SKhatibzadeh) October 7, 2020

Back in June, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati said Korean banks are preventing Iran from using billions of dollars of its oil money to buy foods and medicines which the US alleges are exempt from its sanctions.

Iran says South Korea is in arrears on payment of about 7 billion US dollars for Iranian oil before the US President Donald Trump's administration reimposed sanctions on Tehran's oil industry in November 2018.

Iranian authorities have been pressing South Korea to release the frozen funds so that it could use them for purchase of basic goods.

Tehran warns Seoul over ‘unacceptable’ freezing of Iranian oil money

Iran issues an official warning to the “rude" government of South Korea over its “unacceptable” and “unjustifiable” move to block the Islamic Republic’s oil money.

Since its withdrawal from a historic, multilateral nuclear deal with Iran and other major world powers in 2018 and subsequent reinstatement of sanctions, the US has been mounting maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic, taking a tough line on other nations as well in a bid to force them to cut trade with Tehran or face Washington's punitive measures.    

Although the US claims that foodstuff and medicines have been exempt from the draconian bans, the sanctions have, in fact, prevented Iran from buying basic need through blocking Iran's access to its overseas money and targeting its banking transactions.  

In late January, the United States and Switzerland, which represents the US' interests in Iran, announced the launch of a so-called humanitarian channel, known as the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), to ship food and medicine to Tehran from the Scandinavian country.

Iran has dismissed as “insufficient” the Swiss-US channel, arguing that the United States is originally banned by the International Court of Justice from subjecting Iran’s much-needed medical supplies to sanctions.

Iran president: US offer of coronavirus aid 'biggest lie in history'

President Hassan Rouhani says the US offer to help Iran in its fight against the coronavirus is "one of the biggest lies in history".

While refusing to lift their sanctions that are hampering Iran's efforts to contain coronavirus, US officials have instead claimed readiness to aid Iranians, with Trump saying "all they have to do is ask."

Iran has slammed the offer as a repulsive display of hypocrisy amid Washington’s sanctions and medical terrorism targeting Tehran. 

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