U.S. Says No Deal with Iran Over American Hostages

Biden’s administration is trying to free several Americans held in Iran. However, Iranian reports claimed that an agreement was reached regarding hostage negotiations. “especially cruel lie.”

“Claims by Iranian officials that we have reached a deal for the release of the U.S. citizens wrongfully held by Iran are false,” A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told The Associated Press Washington Free Beacon Monday. In a statement to the reporters, Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department, added that Monday was “another day”. Free Beacon According to reports, a “deal regarding the exchange of prisoners has been reached are another especially cruel lie that only adds to the suffering of their families.”

While the administration acknowledged that hostage negotiations are ongoing, officials could not give an exact status update. The State Department official who was asked about diplomatic details of a possible deal declined to answer the question. Free Beacon, “We will not go into the details of any diplomatic efforts underway; as you can imagine, such discussions are sensitive and highly consequential for the U.S. citizens who have been wrongfully detained.”

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, fueled the fires about a possible deal over the weekend. He claimed that the United States and Tehran were close to signing a deal “prisoner swap” This could allow Iran to access $7 billion of currently frozen funds. In 2015, the Obama administration reached a similar agreement that allowed Iran to receive $400 million in cash as part of a $1.7billion total payment. A large portion of that money went to Iran. Was spent Supporting Iran’s military.

The White House National Security Council charged Iran’s foreign minister with spreading falsehoods.

“Unfortunately, Iranian officials will not hesitate to make things up, and the latest cruel claim will cause more heartache for the families of Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, and Morad Tahbaz,” The official stated. “We call on Iran to release our citizens without delay.”

After the State Department’s announcement, Iran’s claims took off. An announcement On Sunday, Roger Carstens, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Relations, will be visiting Qatar. He will be there from Monday through Wednesday. “engage with government representatives and stakeholders on matters related to the resolution of wrongful detention and hostage cases worldwide.”

Rumours about a deal are fueling concerns that the Biden administration might agree to freeze $7 billion of Iranian assets as part a prisoner swap.

“If $1.7 billion encouraged the regime to take additional hostages, $7 billion will guarantee much more hostage-taking to come,” Think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies A Monday analysis of the rumored agreement.

Richard Goldberg, the former director of countering Iranian weapons-of-mass destruction at The White House National Security Council, warned against giving in to Iran’s demands for money.

“Washington should not be using frozen funds tied to terrorism to provide budget support to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism as it plots terror attacks against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil,” Goldberg stated in a statement. “Rather, the United States should put maximum pressure on Iran until all U.S. hostages are released.”