Mohammad Hassan Didehvar told ILNA that due to the closeness of the diplomacy of the EU with the new U.S. Administration, some of the blocked funds of Iran in Europe can easily return to the country’s economy through active negotiations.

Touching upon Iran’s trade with the Netherlands, he said that Iran’s trade with EU states in October 2020 and in ten months was $3.6b euros as Iran’s share of export was only around 600m euros while its imports stood at 3b euros.

Didehvar noted that the Netherlands is the second export destination of Iran in Europe as Iran’s exports to this country in the same period were around 110.3m euros.

He added that after Germany and Italy, the Netherlands is the third destination for Iran’s exports in Europe, adding that statistics show that the Netherlands was Iran’s ninth export destination in Europe in the same period in 2019.

Didehvar reiterated that the Netherlands is also the third European exporter to Iran as its exports in 10 months in 2020 were around 298.5m.

On the effects of sanctions on the trade between Iran and the Netherlands, he said despite all sanctions, the trade cooperation between the two countries continued, reiterating that the Netherlands has always been among Iran’s top five European trade partners. He admitted that due to the current economic situation of Iran, the level of trade between both counties has declined in recent years but it has not been halted.

On the amount of Iran’s blocked funds in European countries, he said due to the sales of oil to the Asian countries like Japan, China, and South Korea, the amount of Iran’s blocked funds is more in those states compared to its blocked assets in European countries, and he can point to $1.7b of the blocked money in Luxembourg.

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A Luxembourg district judge has blocked the transfer of funds and ruled that the Clearstream clearinghouse, a financial company owned by Deutsche Boerse based in Luxembourg, would be subject to a daily fine of $1.09 million if it moved the money, the Luxembourg Court of Cassation said in a statement.

It added that the appeals court had found the US seizure demand “inadmissible” and in violation of Luxembourg’s national law since the type of account, in which the cash is held in the European country, is “unseizable.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that the country had won a legal “victory” over the assets that had long been frozen on a US request in Luxembourg.

“$1.6 billion of our money was in Luxembourg and the Americans had put their hands on it,” Rouhani said, adding that after trying for months, “We succeeded some and freed this money from the Americans’ grasp.”

A Tuesday report by the Washington Free Beacon, however, claimed that the Trump administration has received guarantees Iran will not repatriate the money.

Citing senior Trump administration officials, it said the United States has “received assurances that the funds continue to be frozen and will not be transferred to Iran at this time.”

Back in 2012, a New York court claimed there was evidence to show that Iran provided “material support and resources” to al-Qaeda operatives that carried out the terrorist attacks in the US in 2001.

The New York court awarded the plaintiffs damages of over $7 billion.

Iran has denied any links to al-Qaeda or any involvement in the 9/11 attacks whose perpetrators were mostly from Saudi Arabia.

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