The prisoner exchange between Iran and the US is scheduled for today. US-China talks: Biden adviser meets China’s chief diplomat in Malta

According to information from Tehran, the prisoner exchange between the US and Iran, which has been planned for months, will take place on Monday.

This was said by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani to journalists. The release of frozen Iranian assets from South Korea clears the way for the deal.

Five Americans must therefore return to the US. In return, the US pardoned five Iranians convicted or charged there. It was initially unknown whether the prisoners were already on their way.

The exchange has been prepared for months. At the beginning of August, Iran placed the now released Americans under house arrest in a hotel in the capital Tehran.

The Islamic Republic repeatedly jails foreigners on charges of espionage or other national security violations. Human rights activists criticize the procedures, which often take place behind closed doors, as unfair. The Islamic Republic is also accused of taking foreigners hostage. Several Germans are also imprisoned in Iran.

Relations between the regime in Iran and the US are historically bad. Both countries were repeatedly on the brink of war. In January 2020, the US killed powerful Iranian General Ghassem Soleimani in a drone strike in neighboring Iraq.

Weeks of military tension followed. The storming of the American embassy by students and the subsequent hostage taking on November 4, 1979 had greatly deteriorated relations between the two countries. (rbu/sda/dpa)