US Denies Iran State Media Report of Prisoner Swap Agreement

The United States has denied a report by Iran’s state-run broadcaster that deals had been reached between Tehran and Washington that would see prisoners swapped and Tehran receive billions of dollars.

An unnamed official quoted by Iranian state TV said that a deal made between the US and Tehran involved a prisoner swap in exchange for the release of $7bn in frozen Iranian funds.

The state TV report, quoting the unnamed Iranian official, also said British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be released once Britain had paid off a debt on military equipment owed to Tehran.

A British Foreign Office official played down that report. The Foreign Office said the country continues “to explore options to resolve this 40-year old case and we will not comment further as legal discussions are ongoing”.

Iran state TV had quoted the official as saying: “The Americans accepted to pay $7bn and swap four Iranians who were active in bypassing sanctions for four American spies who have served part of their sentences.” It did not name the Iranians that Tehran sought to be freed.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price immediately denied the Iranian state TV report.

“Reports that a prisoner swap deal has been reached are not true,” Price said.

“As we have said, we always raise the cases of Americans detained or missing in Iran. We will not stop until we are able to reunite them with their families.”

Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain also denied the report on the US, telling CBS’s Face the Nation that “unfortunately that report is untrue. There is no agreement to release these four Americans.”

“We’re working very hard to get them released,” Klain said. “We raise this with Iran and our interlocutors all the time but so far there’s no agreement.”

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, said later on Sunday the report could not be confirmed, adding that Tehran has always called for a full prisoner exchange with Washington.

Tehran holds four known Americans now in prison. They include Baquer and Siamak Namazi, environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, and Iranian American businessman Emad Shargi.

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