Iran says prisoner exchange process with US will take up to two months

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanani speaks during a press conference in the capital Tehran. (File/AFP)

• Five US citizens held in Iran would be freed while $6bn of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea would be released
• Iranian assets that had been frozen in South Korea were transferred to Switzerland’s central bank

DUBAI: The process of releasing US prisoners held in Iran will take up to two months, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday during a press conference.
“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,” Kanaani said.
Earlier this month, Tehran and Washington reached an agreement whereby five US citizens held in Iran would be freed while $6bn of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea would be released.
Iranian assets that had been frozen in South Korea were transferred to Switzerland’s central bank last week for exchange and transfer to Iran, South Korean media reported on Monday.
Washington would also release some Iranians from US prisons, Iran said.
Iran allowed four detained US citizens to move into house arrest from Tehran’s Evin prison, a lawyer for one said. A fifth was already under home confinement.