5 Americans detained in Iran to be freed Monday in prisoner swap
By Associated Press
Published Sep. 18, 2023, 6:17 a.m. ET
Iran and the United States will exchange prisoners on Monday after some $6 billion once frozen in South Korea reached Qatar, a key element of the planned swap, officials said.
The planned exchange comes just ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi will speak.
However, the swap won’t mean that tensions have been lowered between the US and Iran, which now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani was the first to acknowledge the swap would take place Monday. He said the cash sought for the exchange was now in Qatar.
An individual with direct knowledge of the deal, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity given the exchange had yet to be concluded, later said that both Iranian and US officials had been notified by Qatar that the money had been transferred from Switzerland into the Gulf Arab nation.
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https://nypost.com/2023/09/18/iran-us-prisoner-swap-likely-set-in-motion-as-6-billion-of-once-frozen-iranian-assets-reaches-qatar/
