Iran-US deal just a prisoner swap and no more
By Mostafa Khoshcheshm
International affairs analyst
Following a recent agreement between Iran and the United States on the exchange of prisoners and the release of Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea, some media, mostly foreign ones, have made false claims and analyses about this agreement.
Citing Israeli officials, the media claimed that the prisoner swap was part of a larger deal between Tehran and Washington, and other media said that there was an unwritten agreement between Iran and the US, of which the prisoner exchange was part of it. They reported that the deal also contained Iran’s nuclear activities, including the reduction of uranium enrichment, etc.
These claims, in the most optimistic scenario, are the beliefs of these media. In fact, no agreement has been reached between Tehran and Washington other than the prisoner swap and the release of Iran’s funds.
After the latest round of nuclear negotiations in September, the nuclear talks have stalled due to the US excessive demands.
The Americans were trying to implement the issue of prisoner exchange in the framework of the nuclear negotiations, but Iran insisted that these are two separate issues.
Washington’s policy was to exert financial pressure on Iran in order to force Tehran to give more concessions or withdraw from some of its legal privileges.
In this regard, they began a hybrid war against Iran, especially during last year’s unrest, when they hoped that internal problems along with external pressures would force Tehran to retreat from its stances.
However, by adopting the resistance strategy, Tehran has stood up against US pressure. Over the past years, Iran’s regional and international status has improved, and the region’s Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, have restored their relations with Tehran.
Therefore, when the Americans did not find any achievements in their hybrid war against Iran, they retreated from their positions and accepted that the issue of a prisoner exchange should be pursued separately.
The US acquiescence to the agreement ahead of the first anniversary of the riots, which was sparked by the death of a girl in police custody in Tehran, conveys the message that the Americans are disappointed with the effectiveness of the opposition movements active in foreign countries and the policy of creating chaos inside Iran.