U.S.-Iran Talks on Assets End Without Accord

U.S.-Iranian talks on the return of $500 million in Iranian assets frozen in the United States ended without agreement Wednesday, but a U.S. official said the negotiations will resume in 1987.

Representatives of the Treasury Department and the New York branch of the Federal Reserve Bank met Monday and Wednesday with Iranian Central Bank delegates in an effort to arrange the transfer of about $500 million in Iranian assets frozen in the United States after the Iran hostage crisis.

U.S. and Iranian officials declined to discuss the negotiations, but a U.S. Embassy spokesman said he “heard nothing at all that would indicate any agreement was reached” after Wednesday’s closed-door, 4 1/2-hour session.

“This was the last meeting in the session,” the spokesman said. “Our delegates will be preparing to return for the next round.”

The spokesman said the talks would resume sometime next year, but a date and location had not been set.

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Also Wednesday, Iranian Prime Minister Hussein Moussavi cautioned the talks on the funds, held since the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, were not connected to efforts to release kidnapped Americans held by pro-Iranian extremists in Lebanon.

The State Department has also said the talks are unrelated to attempts to win the hostages’ release. But Iranian Parliament Speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani has said the return of Iran’s assets could speed the captives’ release.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley told reporters progress was made in the talks and another round would be held.

“The U.S. negotiators are returning to the United States to consult in preparation for the next meeting,” she said. “We feel that progress was made. We did not expect to reach a final agreement on all issues this session. The meetings adjourned to allow both sides to work out further details.”

The talks marked the third attempt to resolve questions left open after the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal awarded the money to Iran Aug. 20.

The $500 million is part of $9 billion in Iranian assets frozen in the United States in 1979 after Iranian militants took 52 U.S. Embassy employees hostage in Tehran and held them for 444 days. Iran filed a claim with the tribunal in 1982 for return of the money, which it says represents overpayment of U.S. bank loans.