The United States Denies Reaching A Prisoner Swap Deal With Iran

Spokesman of the United States' Department of State, Ned Price. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - The United States has denied Iranian television reports that there was a deal with Iran regarding the exchange of prisoners in exchange for the release of a frozen Iranian oil fund worth US$ 7 billion under US sanctions in other countries, Sunday, May 2.

Iranian state television said on Sunday, Tehran would release four Americans accused of spying, in exchange for the four Iranians detained in the United States and the release of US$ 7 billion in frozen Iranian funds.

State TV, quoting an unnamed Iranian official, also said British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be released after Britain paid off a debt of military equipment to Tehran.

Iranian officials told Reuters last month a provisional deal could be a way of securing a perpetual settlement time involving the disbursement of Iranian funds blocked under Uncle Sam's sanctions.

"An informed source said Joe Biden's government has agreed to release four Iranian prisoners jailed for violating US sanctions in exchange for four American spies," Iranian state TV reported on Sunday.

"The release of Nazanin Zaghari in exchange for Britain's payment of a £400 million debt to Iran has also been completed. The source also said the Biden administration has agreed to pay Iran US$ 7 billion," the report continued.

However, Washington denied this report. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the reports related to the defense swap agreement that had been reached were not true.

"As we have said, we always raise the case of Americans who are detained or missing in Iran. We will not stop until we can reunite them with their families," said Price.

In line with Price, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain also denied the report.

"Unfortunately, the reports are untrue. There is no agreement to release these four Americans," Klain said on CBS 'Face the Nation'.

Earlier, Iran said US$ 20 billion of its oil revenues had been frozen in countries, such as South Korea, Iraq, and China, under US sanctions since 2018.

American National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking at ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday said no agreement had been reached with Iran in Vienna, referring to meetings with Iran since early April on the 2015's nuclear deal.

"There is still enough distance to travel to close the remaining gaps," he said. "And that loophole is about what sanctions the United States and other countries will pull back. They are about the nuclear restrictions Iran will accept in its program to ensure that they can never get nuclear weapons."

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. (Wikimedia Commons/Foreign and Commonwealth Office)

ZAGHARI-RATCLIFFE

Regarding the Zaghari-Ratcliffe case, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Times Radio on Sunday morning; "We recognize the IMS debt must be repaid and we are looking for arrangements to secure it".

A Foreign Office official later played down speculation about his release. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a Thomson Reuters Foundation charity project manager, was released from house arrest in March at the end of his sentence for involvement in an attempt to overthrow the Iranian government. He was arrested at Tehran Airport in April 2016.

Last month, an Iranian court again sentenced him to one year in prison, weeks after he completed his previous five-year sentence, a decision Britain has called inhuman.

His family and foundation, a charity operating independently of media company Thomson Reuters and Reuters news subsidiary, deny all allegations against him and say he only visited relatives in Iran.