As contacts between the two sides resumed, Washington also approved 2.5 billion euros, equivalent to $2.7 billion, in payments by the Iraqi government for Iranian electricity and gas imports, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. The money had been frozen by U.S. economic sanctions.

U.S. officials described the transfer of funds as routine and unrelated to the discussions. Similar funds have been released in the past, though this time it was done in euros and not local currencies.

After discussions started between senior U.S. and Iranian officials in New York in December, White House officials have traveled to Oman at least three times for further indirect contacts, the people said. Omani officials passed messages between the two sides.

resident Biden took office pledging to revive an international nuclear pact that imposed limits on Iran’s nuclear programs in exchange for the removal of economic sanctions, before declaring in November that such a deal was dead. The U.S. withdrew from the pact under former President Donald Trump.

The latest attempt at diplomacy represents a delicate political balancing act for Biden and is focused on cooling tensions, which have soared this year as Iran has provided drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine, pushed ahead with uranium enrichment and seized oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

In exchange for a prisoner release and limits on nuclear work, Tehran is seeking billions of dollars in Iranian energy revenue trapped abroad by U.S. sanctions. Iranian officials have repeatedly tied the possible release of prisoners to winning access to $7 billion in Iranian funds held in South Korea and demanded access to billions of dollars held in Iraq for deliveries of gas and oil.

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