![\"\"](\"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Prisoner-Swap-300x200.jpg\")
DW \u2014 The US has said reports of a prisoner swap with Iran “are not true.” Iranian state media reported that Tehran had struck deals with British and American officials to release prisoners and unfreeze funds.<\/p>\nDW \u2014 The US has said reports of a prisoner swap with Iran “are not true.” Iranian state media reported that Tehran had struck deals with British and American officials to release prisoners and unfreeze funds.<\/p>\n
The United States has swiftly denied reports about a prisoner swap agreement with Iran, after Iranian state media and a pro-Iranian Lebanese TV channel reported on the alleged deals.<\/p>\n
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the reports “are not true.”<\/p>\n
White House chief of staff Ron Klain, also told US media that “there is no agreement” for a prisoner swap.<\/p>\n
Iran’s UN envoy later also said the reports were not confirmed.<\/p>\n
“The news of the agreement for the release of American prisoners [in Iran]\u00a0is not confirmed,” Majid Takht\u00a0Ravanchi was quoted as saying by the Young Journalists’ Club, which is affiliated with state media.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, British officials downplayed unconfirmed reports about a separate deal that was struck concerning the possible release of\u00a0British-Iranian national\u00a0Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was unclear whether the reports were part of a bid by hard-liners to disrupt ongoing talks in Vienna<\/a> on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.<\/p>\n The deals were first reported by a pro-Iranian Lebanese TV channel. An Iranian state TV channel later cited an anonymous official who said agreements had been struck with US and British officials.<\/p>\n According to the reports, Iran agreed to release four American prisoners in exchange for as many Iranians held by the US.<\/p>\n The prisoner swap deal with Washington also reportedly involved the unfreezing of $7 billion (\u20ac5.8 billion) in Iranian funds.<\/p>\n In a separate unconfirmed deal, the UK agreed to pay 400 million pounds ($553,000; \u20ac460,000) for the release of Zaghari-Ratcliffe.<\/p>\n The UK Foreign Office said the British government is continuing “to explore options” to resolve the case.<\/p>\n The dual national was sentenced to an additional year in prison last week on charges of spreading “propaganda.”\u00a0Zaghari-Ratcliffe recently finished a five-year prison sentence<\/a> on separate charges.<\/p>\n Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told The Associated Press that he wasn’t aware of any swap in the works, but that his “instinct is to be skeptical at present.”<\/p>\n The reports emerged at the same time as Iran’s Supreme Leader\u00a0Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was giving what was described as an “important” speech.<\/p>\n He did not, however, mention any proposed prisoner swaps.<\/p>\n Khamenei did slam remarks made by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a leaked audio recording,<\/a> saying they were a “big mistake.”<\/p>\n In the recordings, Zarif voiced criticism of slain Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike at the beginning of 2020.<\/p>\n Zarif has since apologized for the comments, which come less than two months before Iran holds a presidential election. The minister had been seen as a potential candidate in the June 18 vote.<\/p>\nWhat did the reports say?<\/h2>\n
![\"Nazanin](\"https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/57340460_401.jpg\" "\\"Nazanin")
<\/a>Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family has urged for her release from prison in Iran<\/p>\n<\/div>\nIranian leader quiet on alleged deals<\/h2>\n