Washington denies media reports that US agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets

A US official on Saturday denied media reports that Washington agreed to unfreeze Iran's assets held in Qatar and other foreign banks, as US and Iranian delegations are set to hold peace talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

The official said the claim was false, noting that the meeting between the delegations from the US and Iran had not even started at the time the reports were published.

Pakistan is holding the negotiations to end the extensive Middle East armed conflict that started with the US-Israeli offensive on Iran on Feb. 28. Pakistan mediated a two-week US-Iran ceasefire earlier this week.

Nearly 3,000 Iranians were killed in the war, according to the country’s health authorities. At least 13 US servicemen were also killed and dozens wounded.