U.S.-Iranian Asset Talks End Abruptly : America Accused of Not Dealing in ‘Good Faith’

THE HAGUE —  Iran today accused the United States of not dealing in “good faith” at financial talks that were cut short despite Iranian claims that settlement was imminent on returning almost $508 million in blocked Iranian assets.

Today’s 30-minute meeting concluded this week’s negotiations. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said the talks will resume sometime next year.

The Iranian side had said it expected to strike a final agreement during the session.

Both sides had reported progress in a meeting Monday. A meeting planned for Tuesday was canceled without explanation.

This week’s series of talks, the third in recent months on the return of $507.7 million Iran paid into a New York Federal Reserve account, were held at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal.

Billions of dollars in other assets, including weaponry, were frozen by the United States after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Ruling for Iran

The tribunal ruled in August that the money held in the New York Fed account should be returned to Iran, and the United States has agreed in principle to return it.

“The government of the United States, in implementing the tribunal’s award, so far has not shown its good faith,” said Absadollah Nouri, Iran’s chief negotiator, following the breakup of today’s session.

“They (the U.S. representatives) stopped the discussion,” he said.

Nouri said Iran came into the meeting prepared to consider a final U.S.-authored draft accord on returning the funds.

“They said that their home authorities are not available at this time of the year in Washington so they could not reach them easily . . . to persuade them to sign a final draft,” Nouri said.

Costly War

Iran needs money and weaponry frozen in the United States for its war with Iraq, which has dragged on more than six years at a cost of billions of dollars annually. An estimated 500,000 Iranians and an equal number of Iraqis are believed to have been killed in the war.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Hashemi Rafsanjani, in recent weeks has made the return of frozen assets a condition for possible Iranian intercession on behalf of American hostages in Lebanon.

However, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency today quoted Prime Minister Hussein Musavi as saying the negotiations were by no means connected to the hostage issue.