US denies prisoner swap deal with Iran

The United States contradicts Iranian statements that Washington and Tehran have reached an agreement to exchange prisoners. “The claims by Iranian officials that we have reached an agreement to release American citizens wrongfully detained by Iran are false,” the White House said. The United States says it is still working to release three Iranian-American citizens detained in Iran.

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state television that Iran and the United States had indeed reached an agreement on a prisoner exchange. Amirabdollahian said he expected the swap to happen soon.

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Everything would be ready on the Iranian side, only the Americans are still working on the final preparations, the minister said. At that time, it was not yet known how many prisoners would be involved in the case and under what conditions. The Al Jazeera news channel wrote a few weeks ago that talks were taking place between representatives of the two countries under the mediation of Qatar.

Three Americans are currently imprisoned in Iran. Conversely, Tehran wants to free at least thirteen Iranians who are in an American prison.

Appeal to Biden

On Thursday, one of three Americans detained in Iran appealed to US President Joe Biden via the CNN news channel. Siamak Namazi has been serving a 10-year prison sentence for espionage since 2016. “I beg of you, put the lives and freedoms of innocent Americans above all politics and do just what it takes to end this nightmare and take us home.”

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Namazi had made a similar request of Biden in a Jan. 16 letter. Today marks seven years since Iran freed five Americans under the 2015 nuclear deal. Relations between Tehran and Washington have soured since the US pulled out of the deal and talks for a new agreement are currently deadlocked.