Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian confirmed to state television today, Sunday, that Iran and the United States have reached an agreement for a prisoner exchange, but Washington denied the validity of the statements, calling them "false claims."
Amir-Abdollahian stated, "We have reached an agreement in recent days regarding the issue of prisoner exchange between Iran and the United States, and if things go well from the American side, I believe we will witness a prisoner exchange in the near future." He added, "From our side, everything is ready, while the United States is currently working on final technical coordination."
A white house official denied Amir-Abdollahian's claims about reaching an agreement on a prisoner exchange, stating that the United States is committed to ensuring the release of Americans detained in Iran. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said, "The Iranian officials' claims regarding our agreement to release American citizens mistakenly held by Iran are false."
Among the many Americans detained in Iran are Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman sentenced in 2016 to ten years in prison for espionage and collaborating with the U.S. government; Emad Shargi, an Iranian-American businessman arrested in 2018 while working for a technology investment firm; and Iranian-American environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who holds British citizenship along with American and Iranian citizenship.
Iranian sources told Reuters that two countries in the region are involved in a series of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington for the release of prisoners. Tehran has sought for years to secure the release of over 12 Iranians held in the United States, including seven Iranian-Americans, two Iranians with permanent residency in the U.S., and four Iranians without legal status in the United States.
Human rights activists have accused the Islamic Republic of detaining them in an attempt to extract concessions from other countries. Iran, which holds dozens of Iranian dual nationals and foreigners, has rejected this accusation. Some Iranian media reported last week that Iran had reached an agreement for a prisoner exchange in exchange for the release of $7 billion of Iranian oil funds frozen under U.S. sanctions in South Korea.
In 2018, former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six international powers, reimposing sanctions that crippled the Islamic Republic's economy. The agreement had limited Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for lifting international sanctions. In response to the sanctions, Tehran gradually violated the restrictions imposed on its nuclear program under the agreement. Indirect talks between Tehran and the Biden administration to revive the agreement have stalled since September.
