Prisoners exchange deal with US could release $10 bln for Iran: Nizar Zakka to LBCI

Negotiations over a deal that has been kept away from the public eye for months have emerged in the past few days. The deal would result in Tehran releasing three prisoners in exchange for Washington unfreezing frozen funds belonging to Iran in over ten billion dollars from multiple countries.

Nizar Zakka, President of Hostage Aid Worldwide organization,  confirmed to LBCI that the agreement on hostages between Iran and the United States reached its final stage, and "the parties have been negotiating for some time on how to release Iranian funds in Japan, South Korea, and Iraq, amounting to a total of $10 billion."

"These funds will be deposited in a specific bank to ensure they are used for humanitarian purposes. It is important to clarify that this agreement was expected to yield results and has nothing to do with the agreement between Saudi Arabia and China," Zakka added.

Zakka added that the possible funds were supposed to be deposited in a European bank. 

"Still, due to European sanctions on Iran, the agreement was delayed, and the funds are now expected to be released into one of the Gulf Arab banks."

A few days ago, American citizen Siyamak Namazi appealed to President Joe Biden from prison through CNN to release him and his colleagues from Iranian jails.

Iran's foreign minister was the first to speak about reaching an agreement. In a televised dialogue, Abdullahian explained that Tehran was ready to exchange prisoners, and the United States was taking the necessary technical steps. 

If the agreement with Washington is executed, we will witness the exchange of prisoners in a short period.

In contrast to the Iranian statements, US media quoted State Department spokesman Ned Price on Sunday as contradicting these statements.

Price denied reaching an agreement and described the Iranian officials' statements as another lie that increases the families' suffering, confirming that the US administration is tirelessly working to secure the release of the three Americans unjustly imprisoned in Iran.

The first deal occurred in January 2016, during the last year of President Barack Obama's administration. At that time, five American prisoners were exchanged for seven Iranian prisoners, six of whom held American citizenship.

The second deal occurred in December 2019 and involved the exchange of American researcher Xiyue Wang for Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani.

If things proceed as planned, March 2023 will be added to the history of the exchange deals between Tehran and Washington after indirect negotiations that started last February, in which Qatar and Britain played the role of mediators alongside Oman, which serves as a permanent mediator.