The people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said the exact date of the swap isn’t yet set but it’s likely to be on September 18, a day before world leaders convene in New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
The prisoner exchange agreement was officially announced on August 10, following two years of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
In a gesture of goodwill, Tehran has moved four American detainees from prison to house arrest. They joined a fifth American who was already under house arrest in Tehran.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News in Tehran, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi revealed that the prisoner swap process will be completed as scheduled.
He also added that the American prisoners in Iran are in “very good” health, and that they will soon return home.
The talks, mediated by Qatar, also encompassed the issue of billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets blocked overseas since 2018, when the United States unilaterally abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated its sanctions against Iran.
