Trump says he will not ease sanctions on Iran as part of a deal

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that easing sanctions on Iran is not under consideration in the current negotiations towards ending the war, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and paring down Iran's nuclear capability.

This comes as Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has repeatedly insisted that unlocking access to his country's money should be a confidence-building measure, if not a precondition, for talks with the US. 

Both Ghalibaf and Iran’s central bank chief travelled to Qatar on Monday to discuss the release of some $6bn that has been held in the Gulf state - on Washington's orders - since September 2023, signalling a potential breakthrough.

Iran maintains it is owed up to $120bn of its own revenue that has been withheld by foreign governments and banking institutions, thanks to US sanctions steadily imposed on the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The 1996 Iran Sanctions Act expanded sanctions to those doing business with Tehran and barred it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. From 2005 onwards, a slew of US sanctions have been imposed on individuals and companies alleged to have ties to terrorist activity.

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