Towards a return to the negotiating table? The Persian news agency “Noor” reported that in recent weeks, intensive talks have taken place between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, mediated by a regional country, for the release of the Iranian and American prisoners imprisoned in both countries. It was also reported that the agreement will include the thawing of Iranian assets worth billions of dollars, after as a result of which the sanctions imposed by the USA were frozen.
In the meantime, these developments came after many months in which the two sides tried to reach an amicable solution, regarding the exchange of prisoners, since the negotiations on the matter began already last April. The aforementioned talks were indirect, and took place in Vienna, also to try and revive the nuclear agreement from 2015 and return to the negotiating table.
According to the Persian news agency, 16 Iranian prisoners who were tried for federal crimes following the tensions between the countries, will be released in the agreement. At the same time, four American citizens held in the prisons of the Islamic Republic, after being tried for security offenses, will also be released. This, after the Americans claimed that the prisoners were being held as a bargaining chip for Tehran against Washington. In the meantime, a number of sources privy to the details said that the Iranian assets that will be frozen are located in different countries in the world, such as China, India, South Korea and Japan.
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As you remember, the agreement between the countries comes against the background of the impasse in the negotiations on the nuclear agreement, between the Islamic Republic and the Western powers. Last week, the “Al-Arabiya” network reported that an official in the American administration confirmed that “the talks have reached an impasse due to Iran’s position.” American government officials emphasized that “Iran’s position is illogical, Iran is on its way to economic recovery provided by the nuclear agreement that the parties are discussing.”
Earlier, the president of Iran, Ibrahim Raisisaid during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, that “the most important subject in the negotiations is the lifting of sanctions on Iran.” Also, Raisi noted that “the growing investigation file of the Atomic Energy Agency against Iran is one of the issues that must be resolved in order to continue in the agreement”, and emphasized that “the investigations must be removed in order to reach an agreement”.