U.S. officials have denied a report alleging that several American prisoners would be freed in exchange for a release of billions of dollars in frozen funds to the country.
An unconfirmed report from Iranian State television announced Sunday that four Americans who were accused of spying on the country would be given to the U.S. if $7 billion in frozen oil funds were no longer under sanctions, Reuters reported.
“[An] informed source says [the] Biden administration has agreed to release four Iranian prisoners jailed for bypassing U.S. sanctions in exchange for four American ‘spies’,” the report said, also detailing another payment from the United Kingdom, according to Reuters.
“The source also said the Biden administration has agreed to pay Iran $7 billion,” the report continued, according to Reuters.
U.S. And U.K. Push Back On Iran’s Claims They Will Pay Billions For Prisoner Swap https://t.co/lIaQ14HlUB pic.twitter.com/T5TTyjfJpw
— Forbes (@Forbes) May 2, 2021
Shortly after the alleged swap was announced, numerous U.S. officials denied the reports, saying that no deal of that magnitude was agreed to, Reuters reported. (RELATED: John Kerry Vehemently Denies Sharing Secret Intel About Israel With Iran)
“Unfortunately, that report is untrue. There is no agreement to release these four Americans,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
NEW: After reports of prisoner swap with Iran, White House chief of staff Ron Klain says: “Unfortunately, that report is untrue. There is no agreement to release these four Americans.”
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 2, 2021
Klain did add that the U.S. “regularly” raises the issue of the four captive Americans with Iran, but did not specify if there was any other active deal being made, Reuters reported.
The Biden administration has recently made attempts to ease tensions against Iran, including taking steps to rejoin the Iran Nuclear deal, despite the country reportedly rejecting such talks. However, U.S. warships reportedly fired “warning shots” on antagonizing Iranian Revolutionary Guard ships in April.