WASHINGTON — One of the final sticking points standing in the way of a tentative US-Iran peace deal is the phased unfreezing of funds held by Qatar and intended for humanitarian purposes, The Post has learned.
President Trump and Iranian negotiators are haggling over the final details of a memorandum of understanding that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping while giving additional time for a second round of talks on the fate of roughly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
The funds in question would not be directly provided to Iran, but would be used to purchase food and medical supplies, which are then sent to the war-torn nation.
The gradual disbursement would be tied to Iran meeting benchmarks, including opening the strait and de-mining it, an administration official said.
Qatar holds $6 billion released by former President Joe Biden as part of a September 2023 prisoner swap that brought home five detained Iranian-Americans, in exchange for five Iranians held by the US.
Iran-backed Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack on Israel weeks later in October 2023 — prompting a clampdown on plans to draw down the money.
It’s unclear when exactly Washington and Iran will finalize the memorandum of understanding, but the administration official said it was the “closest” the two sides have been.
The developments came after Trump huddled with his national security team, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for about two hours in the White House Situation Room on Friday. Trump said on Truth Social he was making a “final determination” on a proposed deal, but made clear getting rid of Iran’s nuclear dust was his red line.
The peace process has been belabored by the fact that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in hiding for fear of assassination by the US and Israel, requiring an elaborate days-long courier process to communicate messages.
Resolution of the final points still is believed to be possible within days — rather than weeks.
Many elements of the second phase of the peace process remain unsettled, with the central focus on how exactly Iran might dispose of its enriched uranium.
Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday that the nuclear material “will be unearthed by the United States (which, it is agreed, is the only Country, along with China, with the mechanical capability of doing so!), in close coordination and conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Iran, plus the International Atomic Energy Agency, and DESTROYED.”
“No money will be exchanged, until further notice,” he wrote.
Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in principle during Trump’s recent visit to Beijing to assist with digging out the material, an administration official said, but Trump has publicly ruled out shipping it to Russia or China to resolve the conflict.
It’s possible other countries, such as Pakistan or Turkey, could take possession of the uranium — or it could be diluted and remain in Iran, a different US official told The Post this week.
