April 8 – The Iranian government has reached an agreement which would allow a “considerable amount” of its assets frozen in overseas accounts to be released, according to an unnamed official speaking to Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
The news outlet also said the amount to be released was “several times” more than the $520 million debt the UK paid to Iran on March 17, stemming from an arms deal made in the 1970s between the countries.
The report did not name which other countries were involved in the agreement or offer any more information about its contents.
Hollywood actress and British-Iranian human rights activist Nazanin Boniadi asked the United Nations why Iran had been granted membership to its Commission on the Status of Women, during the 14th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
Iran consistently ranks amongst the worst countries in the world for its treatment of women and the decision to allow the regime onto the panel has drawn global criticism.
Boniadi also asked the UN why it had kept Iran on its Human Rights Council following its vote to remove Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. As of 2021, Iran is holding more than 500 women rights defenders in prison, and ranks second in the world for the most confirmed executions of children and adults.
The wife of detained Iranian Shahab Dalili asked US President Joe Biden to help secure her husband’s release, following negotiations between Washington and Tehran to agree a prisoner swap.
Nahid Dalili had previously chosen not to talk about her husband’s detention for fear that it might jeopardize his release, but has since decided to raise awareness about his case.
Shahab Dalili was arrested and imprisoned in 2016 on charges including “aiding and abetting” the US, which human rights groups have called baseless. Dalili is a permanent US resident and holds a green card, but is not a US citizen.
