Iran urges US to unfreeze $10bn

Tehran:Iran’s foreign minister has called on the United States to unlock $10 billion of Tehran’s frozen assets to clear the way for a return to a nuclear deal.

If the Americans have "true intentions, let them release some of our assets, for example $10 billion frozen in foreign banks", Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an interview with state television broadcast late on Saturday.

"But the Americans are not prepared to unlock them for us to be assured that they’ve taken into account the interests of the Iranian people at least this one time over the past decades," he said.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed warnings that time was running out for Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. "The ball remains in their court, but not for long," Blinken told reporters. "There is a limited runway on that, and the runway is getting shorter."