DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranian President Ebrahim&nbsp;Raisi&nbsp;called on&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;on Tuesday to display its independence from Washington by releasing Tehran's&nbsp;frozen&nbsp;assets amid U.S. sanctions - and then said the only blocked Iranian&nbsp;funds&nbsp;were being held in South Korea.
"Japan&nbsp;should act independently from the U.S. by releasing our blocked&nbsp;funds,"&nbsp;Raisi&nbsp;said when asked by a&nbsp;Japanese reporter about $1.5 billion of blocked&nbsp;funds&nbsp;in&nbsp;Japan.
He then appeared to contradict himself.
"I must clarify that our Central Bank earlier said we only had unjustly&nbsp;frozen&nbsp;funds&nbsp;in South Korea. All other assets abroad are at the disposal of&nbsp;Iran's&nbsp;Central Bank,"&nbsp;Raisi&nbsp;said.
Tehran and Washington have reached an agreement in which five U.S. citizens held in Iran will be freed in exchange for $6 billion of Iranian assets&nbsp;frozen&nbsp;in South Korea.
On Aug. 10, Iran allowed four detained U.S. citizens to move into house arrest from Tehran's Evin prison. A fifth was already under home confinement.
They are expected to leave Iran when the money reaches accounts in Qatar.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Nick Macfie)

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Iran's Raisi urges Japan to release frozen funds, then wavers