US in ‘active negotiations’ with Iran for release of 5 Iranian-Americans

Washington is negotiating with Tehran the return of Americans who are under house arrest in Iran.

“We are in active negotiations right now, as you and I are speaking, to get those Americans home.  And I’m not going to say anything up here that’s going to put those negotiations at jeopardy, but that’s what we’re talking to the Iranians about, getting these Americans home safe to their families where they belong,” National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, said in a press briefing.

Kirby did not provide any details about these negotiations, however, citing “informed sources,” Al-Khaleej Al-Jadeed said that Qatar will host the expected prisoner exchange deal between the United States and Iran.

The deal involves the release of the five Iranian-Americans in exchange for the release of four Iranians detained by the United States. The five Americans who had been held under house arrest on security charges have now been transferred to a hotel until the end of the negotiations.

The deal also includes a commitment by Washington to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in South Korean banks.

The US-Iran deal was reached after difficult negotiations involving a “mediation process” that took more than a year.

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