Iran hopes the prisoner exchange with the US will take place on Monday with South Korea’s confirmation of the release of $6 billion in Iranian funds, the diplomatic spokesman said.
“We hope to receive confirmation today of the payment of all released assets and that “the prisoner exchange will take place on the same day,” Nasser Kanani said during a press conference in Tehran.
The exchange is scheduled to take place in Qatar, which has acted as a mediator between Iran and the United States, two countries that do not have diplomatic relations.
“Five Iranian prisoners will be released and in return, five American citizens detained in Iran will be handed over to the American side upon their request,” Kanani said.
Of the latter, “two will return to Iran, another will go to a third country due to the presence of his family in that country, and the last two will remain in the United States,” he said.
This agreement was announced on August 10 as part of an agreement between Tehran and Washington.
Five Americans imprisoned in Iran were then moved from their prison in August and placed under house arrest before being transferred to Qatar.
Among them is businessman Siamak Namazi, who was arrested in 2015 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016 for espionage.
The five Iranians set to be released by the US include Reza Sarhangpour and Kambiz Attar Kashani, who are accused of diverting “American sanctions” against Iran.
In the eyes of some experts, this agreement, concluded after very discreet negotiations, represents an easing of tensions between Iran and the United States, but does not anticipate a possible agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue.
Negotiations led by the Europeans failed in 2022 to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which had been dead since the United States’ unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under Donald Trump’s presidency.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi is expected in New York on Monday to attend the UN General Assembly.