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Iran: Prisoner Swap With US Could Take Two Months


FILE - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani speaks in Tehran, Iran, in this Aug. 11, 2022, photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
FILE - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani speaks in Tehran, Iran, in this Aug. 11, 2022, photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Iran said Monday it could take up to two months to complete a prisoner swap it has agreed to with the United States.

"A specific time frame has been announced by relevant authorities, and it will take a maximum of two months for this process to take place," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told a news conference.

Tehran and Washington reached an agreement earlier this month in which both pledged to release five of each country's citizens they have been holding. In addition, the U.S. agreed to release $6 billion in Iranian assets that have been held in South Korea.

The Iranian assets were transferred to Switzerland's central bank last week for exchange and transfer to Iran, South Korean media reported Monday.

Iran has moved four detained U.S. nationals it has held at Tehran's Evin prison into house arrest, a lawyer for one of them said. A fifth was already under home confinement.

Some material in this report came from Reuters.

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