Iran clinches agreement to tap into frozen overseas funds: report

Iran has reached an agreement to release a "considerable amount" of its frozen overseas assets, which have been subject to US sanctions, Iranian state media has reported.

The amount set to be unfrozen would be "several times" the nearly £400 million recently paid by the UK to Iran to secure the release of two British detainees, the Islamic Republic News Agency [IRNA] reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

No further details regarding the deal were given.

Iran has sought to release billions of US dollars in overseas assets which were frozen after former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear agreement and enforced tough new sanctions on Tehran.

Iran has more than $7 billion in funds for oil shipments frozen held in two South Korean banks due to the sanctions. The Islamic Republic was South Korea's third-largest Middle Eastern trading partner before the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 agreement.

Tehran has been engaged in long-running negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna to revive the deal - known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - with the UK, China, France, Germany and Russia directly, and indirectly, the US.