Iran, US Agree to Prisoner Swap and Release of Frozen Funds – Pro-Iranian Lebanese TV

FILE PHOTO: A statue of a U.S. hostage is displayed in front of the main building of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran. The former U.S. embassy was the site of the 1979-1981 hostage crisis in which a group of Islamists held 52 U.S. diplomats hostage for 444 days. The building is currently being used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

DUBAI, May 2 (Reuters) Iran will free four Americans accused of spying in exchange for four Iranians held in the United States and the release of $7 billion in frozen Iranian funds, a pro-Iranian Lebanese TV channel reported on Sunday, citing unnamed Iranian officials.

Iranian state television, citing an official, confirmed the Al Mayadeen report.

The White House and U.S. State Department had no immediate comment.

Iran and world powers are holding talks to revive the 2015 nuclear accord that Washington abandoned three years ago.

Iranian officials told Reuters last month that an interim deal could be a way to gain time for a lasting settlement that involved unfreezing Iranian funds blocked under U.S. sanctions.

Tehran and the powers have been meeting in Vienna since early April to work on steps that must be taken, touching on U.S. sanctions and Iran‘s alleged breaches of the 2015 deal, to bring Tehran and Washington back into full compliance with the accord.

Iran says $20 billion of its oil revenue has been frozen in countries like South Korea, Iraq and China under the U.S. sanctions regime since 2018.

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(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli and Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Catherine Evans and Angus MacSwan)


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