UAE to unlock frozen Iranian funds amid US ceasefire push

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The report on the move coincided with the final stages of broader negotiations between Tehran and Washington to end the war. Diplomats say those talks involve the release of tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks under US sanctions. Two regional sources told Reuters that the UAE had agreed to release a total of $10bn, more than $3bn of which had already been delivered. Two other sources with knowledge of the ⁠arrangement put the total funds involved at $20bn, adding that the move had been agreed in return for a halt to Iranian attacks on the UAE. One of the sources with knowledge of the arrangement also said a first tranche of $3bn had already been made available. Reuters could not establish whether the funds earmarked for the transfers belong to the UAE or originate in long-blocked Iranian accounts in the UAE banking system, or elsewhere. But a UAE official, asked to comment on the transfer, said the country was trying to ease tension and foster peace. “The UAE’s foreign policy is guided by promoting de-escalation and reducing tensions across ‌the region, while advancing lasting peace and stability,” the official said. “The UAE supports efforts, including those undertaken by the United States, to protect the peoples of the region from the repercussions of conflict.” The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’s request for comment on the move. Earlier on Friday, Vice President JD Vance said that frozen funds would not immediately be released to Iran upon signing a deal with the US. He said the potential deal is structured to ensure that economic benefits would flow to Tehran if it meets its obligations. There was no immediate response from Iranian authorities to a Reuters request for comment on the move. None of the sources cited by Reuters would agree to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. The arrangement signals a striking pivot from the open animosity of UAE-Iran relations through much of the war, when Iranian attacks emptied Dubai’s hotels, ⁠drove some expatriates to flee and shook the reputation for safety that is central to the country’s position as a premier business hub. One of the ⁠sources with knowledge of the arrangement said the move offered a way to help solve the conflict between the US and Iran without either side crossing its red line. Iran can claim it extracted compensation for war damages. Washington can insist it paid nothing. Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, obtains its own security and protects Dubai’s hub status, while framing the move as an investment in rebuilding regional trust. The other source with knowledge of the arrangement said that in return for the disbursement, Iran ⁠would halt missile and drone attacks on the UAE, and there would be a rebuilding of bilateral ties, including intelligence sharing and economic cooperation. The source added that Iran had approached at least two other Gulf Arab countries to make a similar arrangement. The last known direct attack by Iran on ⁠the UAE was more than a month ago – a May 4 strike on the Gulf state’s Fujairah port on the Gulf ⁠of Oman. The first source with knowledge of the arrangement said talks had started several weeks ago but quickened pace when officials of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard visited Abu Dhabi last week to meet Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi, and stayed at his guest house. That trip was followed by a visit by UAE officials to Tehran to negotiate the details of the mechanism. Dubai’s banks have long held substantial Iranian-linked deposits, much of them now immobilised under US sanctions that police the global dollar-clearing system and expose any foreign bank dealing with blacklisted Iranian entities to being cut off from the US financial network. On April 11, a senior Iranian source told Reuters that the ‌US had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets held in Qatar and other foreign banks, although a US official swiftly denied the assertion. The source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that unfreezing the assets was “directly linked to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz”, a key issue in talks aimed at ending the conflict. 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