Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a ceremony on the occasion of Journalists' Day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday evening.
Stating that Iran has never deviated from the path of diplomacy and negotiation, Amir-Abdollahian added that after the incumbent government under President Ebrahim Raeisi took office two years ago, it decided and tried to neutralize or remove the unilateral and oppressive sanctions through diplomacy.
The foreign minister said that Iran released the prisoners based on humanitarian grounds, dismissing any links between freeing the American prisoners and the release of frozen funds in South Korea.
Iran has been exchanging indirect messages with the American side for months, he said, adding that Iran does not consider any connection between the issue of prisoners and its frozen assets in foreign banks.
Stating that before the victory of the Islamic revolution, an amount was blocked in one of the British banks due to the purchases of weapons, he said that Iran was able to receive 390 million pounds from the British government.
"The money came to us completely through the bank route in difficult conditions of the sanctions. We agreed that Iran can import non-sanctioned goods," he emphasized.
He said that the issue of property transfer was a great thing done during the tenure of President Raeisi administration, adding that "if an amount is deposited into our account today, it is our right."
Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir-Abdollahian referred to Iran-Azerbaijan relations and reiterated Iran's position that the attacker had done what happened at the embassy for personal reasons. He voiced hope to see a court ruling in connection with the Azeri embassy case soon.
Stressing that the presence of military forces in the Persian Gulf region increases insecurity, the Iranian minister said that no party is more interested in and committed to ensuring the security of the region than Iran.
Amir-Abdollahian concluded by offering condolences on the martyrdom of the Iranian custodian in Shah Cheragh terrorist attack in Shiraz yesterday, stressing that Iran will act in the strongest possible way and will have a remorsful response to the terrorists.
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