Iran Claims US Agreed to Release Frozen Assets to Advance Talks; White House Denies — Conflicting Accounts Cloud Islamabad Opening

A major dispute over the terms of the Islamabad talks erupted on April 11 before substantive negotiations could begin. Iranian state media and officials cited by Al-Monitor and Reuters claimed the United States had agreed, as a precondition, to release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar and overseas banks — which Tehran had insisted on before nuclear talks could formally open. The White House immediately denied the claim, with Israeli Hayom reporting Karoline Leavitt said no such concession had been made. Times of Israel's live blog noted Iran's Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf had told Pakistani PM Sharif that 'negotiations with the US cannot start' without the Lebanon ceasefire and asset release — putting the talks in immediate jeopardy. The CNBC live blog noted Iran's position amounted to a pre-talks ultimatum. The contradictory accounts — Iran claiming a US concession, Washington denying it — echoed the pattern from the ceasefire announcement itself on April 8, when Iran published a version of the 10-point deal the US said differed from the agreed text. Pakistan's mediation role was being tested in real time, with Islamabad trying to bridge incompatible opening demands before substantive nuclear and Hormuz discussions could even begin.