Amir-Abdollahian said Iran views the prisoner exchange with the US as a humanitarian issue, stressing that Iran deals with issues of prisoners and frozen funds separately, said the report.
He noted that the assets, newly released from banks in South Korea, have been transferred to a European bank, with a limited part still remaining in South Korea for future transactions with the East Asian state.
Last Thursday, the Biden administration reached a tentative agreement with Iran that would see the release of five detained Americans and an unknown number of Iran prisoners in the US.
On Friday, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby offered caution about the deal, saying that “the deal is not done” and that active discussions on how to bring home the five Americans are taking place.
There have been speculations that this deal between Washington and Tehran could lead to a broader agreement on a return to the 2015 Iran deal.
Iran signed the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in 2015. In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
Iran responded to Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal by scaling back its compliance with the agreement. The Biden administration, however, sought to return to the deal and held indirect talks with Iran on a return to compliance.
The talks stalled in September after the sides failed to reach an agreement on IAEA probes of Iran’s nuclear activities. However, recent reports indicated that the US and Iran held indirect talks on a new agreement.
Later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied that an agreement had been reached between the Biden administration and the Iranian government on Iran's nuclear program.