Iran receives more assets under interim n-deal

Tehran, May 8 (IANS) Iran has received the fourth and fifth installments of previously frozen assets under an interim nuclear deal with world powers, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced Thursday.

The installments, amounting to $1 billion, have been deposited to the account of the CBI in the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the report.

The Islamic republic "can use the money now", Xinhua reported citing the CBI statement which did not elaborate further.

The release of parts of Iran's assets by the US comes following a recent report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran has completed some of its obligations as stipulated in the deal it reached with world powers in November last year.

The US has now released $2.55 billion to Iran since February.

The interim agreement, officially titled the Joint Plan of Action, was a pact signed between Iran and the P5+1 or the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, China, Russia, France and Britain - plus Germany in Geneva, Switzerland.

It consists of a short-term freeze of portions of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions on Iran, as the countries work towards a long-term agreement.

It represents the first formal agreement between the US and Iran in 34 years.

Implementation of the agreement began Jan 20, 2014.

Iran and the P5+1 wrapped up a new round of expert-level nuclear talks Wednesday in New York saying that it was "fruitful".

"In these negotiations, the latest expert views on the technical nuclear issues were studied," Hamid Baeidinejad, head of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, said.