To Make a Deal With Trump, Iran Wants Billions of Its Money Unfrozen NYT | Top Stories By: Ephrat Livni 28 May 2026 at 04:03 The money has become a sticking point in talks, with Iran insisting that meaningful negotiations cannot begin without the funds’ release. © Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York TimesA crowd carrying a photo of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, during a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday. The Iranian government has been pummeled economically by Western sanctions and recent wars.