Ready to deal with United States appears for the exchange of prisoners Iran. A similar development, if it eventually occurs, will augur well for an agreement on Iranian nuclear programsince months of negotiations between the major Western powers and Tehran are at a turning point.

“We are ready for a prisoner exchange with Washington. The US must unconditionally release the imprisoned Iranian citizens,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said yesterday, calling on the Biden administration to “act instead of being theatrical.”

Iran is seeking the release of 13 Iranians detained in the US. Among them are seven Iranian-Americans with dual citizenship, two Iranians with permanent residence in the United States, and four Iranians without legal status in the country. For its part, Washington is seeking the release of four American citizens detained in Iran on charges of espionage. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed that his administration is determined to secure the release of all Americans held in Iran and specifically mentioned Iranian-American businessman Shiamak Namazi, who served 2,500 days in prison.

Meanwhile, Americans and Europeans are studying Tehran’s written response to the EU proposal. for extending the 2015 international agreement around the Iranian nuclear program, from which the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 by decision of its then President Donald Trump. The European proposal was handed over as “final” after months of intense mediation between Washington and Tehran by EU foreign policy spokesman Josep Borrell. However, the Iranian side still raises issues that require clarification, mainly in terms of guarantees that something like the US withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 will not happen in the future.

Moderate optimism in Brussels and Washington regarding the nuclear deal.

“Positive” is the answer

A European diplomatic source cited by Bloomberg described the Iranians’ written response as “positive.” State Department spokesman Ned Price also expressed moderate optimism, saying that “basic issues are largely resolved” and that the upcoming agreement will be close to American positions.

Recently Republicans have been pressuring the Biden administration to take a hard line on Iran, taking advantage of Irani’s prosecution for plotting to assassinate former White House national security adviser John Bolton. Officials in Washington clarified that the possibility of revoking the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards as an international terrorist organization, rumors that caused a political storm in the US capital, was not discussed.