Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran was in the final stages of prisoner swap negotiations with the US, demanding progress on a sensitive and important deal that Washington immediately denied.
Hossein Amirabdollahian told state television on Sunday that the two countries were on the verge of exchanging prisoners despite rising tensions in recent months over the nuclear issue and relations with Russia.
“We have reached an agreement in recent days, and if everything goes well on the American side, I think we will witness a prisoner exchange in the short-term,” he said. “As far as we are concerned, everything is ready.”
But the ongoing diplomatic challenges were underscored when the White House dismissed suggestions that a deal was in the offing. A spokesman for the US National Security Council said Iran’s claims about the deal were “another cruel lie that only adds to the suffering. [the prisoners’] family”.
“We are working hard to secure the release of three Americans wrongfully detained in Iran,” the spokesman said. “We will not stop until he is reunited with his loved ones.”
The Islamic Republic, which holds at least three Iranian-American dual nationals in prison, has long said it is ready for a prisoner swap as long as there is a deal to release Iranian funds held in South Korea.
More than $7bn of Iran’s oil revenue has been frozen in two South Korean banks as American sanctions were imposed after former president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers.
A senior western diplomat in Tehran said the possibility of a prisoner exchange had new “momentum”.
Another person briefed on the discussions said no final deal had been reached but progress had been made. Discussions are ongoing on how the funds will be released, the person added.
President Joe Biden could face backlash at home and from Middle Eastern allies, especially Israel, if his administration appears to have authorized billions of dollars to be transferred to the regime.
One option is for funds to be held in a Qatari account to ensure the use of non-approved items for Iran, such as medicine and food, said a person briefed on the talks. It is not clear whether the release of Iranian prisoners in the US is one of Tehran’s demands.
Talks on the exchange of prisoners could take place in September during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Qatar, which has good relations with Washington and Tehran, helped facilitate the discussions, diplomats said.
The following month, Tehran released Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman, and lifted a travel ban on his 85-year-old father, Baquer. But diplomatic efforts were thrown out of whack when the regime faced nationwide protests and was accused of selling armed drones to Moscow, which are being used by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.
Iranian analysts said that disappointment was felt in the regime, which is under increasing social and economic pressure, that the release of Baquer Namazi did not lead to the release of frozen funds.
Any prisoner swap would come against a backdrop of tensions between the Islamic republic and US and European powers.
Iran is under hundreds of US sanctions, which have cut Tehran off from the global financial system and frozen billions of dollars in oil revenue. Western countries, meanwhile, have been angered by Iran’s handling of protests last year and its decision to sell drones to Moscow.
He also blamed Iran for stymieing efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran rejected the EU’s draft agreement to save the deal in September that had been approved by all other signatories. Analysts say a successful prisoner swap could help lay the groundwork for a fresh start.