Iran Sets Red Lines in US Talks Over Frozen Assets, Lebanon Row

By Staff, Agencies

An advisor on political affairs to the Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Amir Ebrahim Rasouli, reiterated Tehran’s firm red lines in ongoing United States talks aimed at establishing a framework to end the war.

In an interview, Rasouli said Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has stressed that the US must take concrete steps to rebuild trust and address what he described as “self-created suspicions.”

He noted that confidence-building measures include the unfreezing of Iranian sovereign assets, the lifting of sanctions, and the implementation of broader financial facilitation mechanisms.

He stressed that Iran insists the negotiations be conducted in a two-phase structure within a 60-day timeframe, after which discussions would shift to the nuclear dossier.

Rasouli further underscored that without tangible progress on the issue of frozen assets, meaningful trust-building cannot be achieved.

He added that “a significant portion of Iran’s frozen funds must be released, oil exports must be permitted, and maritime restrictions must be lifted as part of confidence-building measures,” noting that the recent visit to Doha forms part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to reinforce trust-building channels.

He also said that Iran’s framework references its regional allies, explicitly naming Hezbollah as part of the 14-point structure, and emphasized that “the administration of the Strait of Hormuz must henceforth fall under Iranian oversight.”

Rasouli warned that “if the United States resorts to semantic maneuvering in the coming hours, the outcome will mirror what occurred in Islamabad, when negotiations were suspended. However, if Washington seeks to continue talks, it must abandon false narratives and demonstrate commitment through concrete actions rather than rhetoric.”

The Iranian advisor stressed that all 14 provisions must be implemented in advance, including "a comprehensive cessation of regional hostilities and the execution of confidence-building measures," stating that only thereafter would detailed negotiations proceed.

The comments come amid increasingly optimistic assessments regarding the potential emergence of a preliminary framework agreement between Iran and the US to de-escalate tensions, as Pakistani mediation efforts continue alongside Qatar’s expanded diplomatic involvement.

However, the talks have encountered key obstacles over two issues Tehran considers fundamental: the end of the "Israeli" aggression on Lebanon and the mechanism governing the release of frozen Iranian assets, while the nuclear file is expected to be addressed in subsequent phases.