Iran says it just received $43 million from the US

Iran announced on Sunday that it had received $43 million in damages from the United States.

The Center for International Legal Affairs of the Iranian President’s Legal Vice Presidency released a statement on Sunday saying that $43 million was deposited into Tehran’s bank account in The Hague, Netherlands, in connection with a legal case in which According to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), it was about real estate that had not been transferred after the conclusion of the Algiers Declaration to Iran. Newsweek could not independently verify Iran’s claim.

“After repeated and sustained follow-up actions by the Center for International Legal Affairs of the Legal Vice Presidency of the Iranian President to secure Iran’s rights based on the ruling, the US government deposited the amount of $43 million into the Iranian President’s account “The Islamic Republic of Iran demands damages and interest from a Dutch bank in The Hague,” the statement said.

The case centers on Iran accusing the US of violating its commitments under the Algiers Declaration to arrange for the transfer of Iranian property – including works of art, archaeological objects, fossils and equipment – to the Middle Eastern country.

The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal agreed with Tehran’s request to order the U.S. to compensate Iran for the losses it suffered because Washington, D.C. failed to deliver these items, according to court documents from 2020.

Newsweek has emailed the White House and State Department seeking further comment.

Iran’s claim comes as President Joe Biden faces scrutiny over his deal announced in August to release Americans held hostage in Iran in return for the release of $6 billion in Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar ensures. Critics said the deal would embolden Iran.

Scrutiny intensified after Hamas, an ally of Iran, launched an attack on Israel on Saturday, a significant escalation in the long-running conflict that drew rebukes from U.S. leaders including Biden, who presented himself as a strong ally of Israel. But critics drew a connection between the attack and the newly released funds, although the White House denied any connection between the two.

Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, claimed in a Truth Social post on Saturday that the attack was funded with “American taxpayer dollars.”

“Unfortunately, American tax dollars helped finance these attacks, which many reports said came from the Biden administration,” he wrote.

The Biden administration has rejected the suggestion that those funds were used in the attack, citing restrictions that would require them to be used exclusively for humanitarian purposes. A White House spokesman said this in a statement Newsweek on Saturday that the funds would not be passed on to Iran.

“The money held in blocked accounts in Doha remains in Doha. Not a penny has been spent and it will never go to Iran – it can only be used for future humanitarian purposes. Any claim to the contrary is false and misleading,” the spokesperson said.