US releases $8bn of Iran's blocked assets

The US has released $8 billion of Iran's frozen assets Sunday, former head of Iran's chamber of commerce Alinaqi Khamoushi announced.

Speaking to IRNA, he said the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany - in Geneva Sunday morning, is an opening up of Iran's economic relations with the world.

"The agreement will open a new path towards Iran," Khamoushi added.

Resolving Iran's nuclear dispute with the Western countries would "gradually help promote Iran's trade relations with the European countries and even with the US". He hoped that the process would continue in the future.

"If the confidence-building measures by both the sides properly progress, then it would also help promote Iran's ties with the US," he added.

After the negotiations, the P5+1 and Iran reached a first-step agreement on Iran's nuclear programmme, announced European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.