Iran Says Prisoner Exchange Process with US Will Take Up to Two Months

Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. (Reuters)
Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. (Reuters)
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Iran Says Prisoner Exchange Process with US Will Take Up to Two Months

Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. (Reuters)
Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. (Reuters)

The process of releasing US prisoners held in Iran will take up to two months, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday during a press conference. 

"A specific time frame has been announced by relevant authorities, and it will take a maximum of two months for this process to take place," Kanaani said. 

Earlier this month, Tehran and Washington reached an agreement whereby five US citizens held in Iran would be freed while $6 billion of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea would be released. 

South Korean media reported on Monday that the assets have been transferred to Switzerland's central bank last week for exchange and transfer to Iran. 

The Swiss National Bank plans to exchange the $6 billion holdings in won for dollars and then euros in the currency market, converting about 300 billion won ($223.85 million) to 400 billion each day for next five weeks, Yonhap Infomax reported, citing an unnamed currency market source.  

An official at South Korea's finance ministry declined to confirm the report, citing the legal and diplomatic sensitivity of the matter.  

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said last week that the released assets would be used to enhance domestic production. 



North Korea's Kim Vows to Exponentially Boost Nuclear Arsenal

09 September 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 10 September 2024, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivering a speech to celebrate the National Foundation Day of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known. Photo: -/kcna/kns/dpa
09 September 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 10 September 2024, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivering a speech to celebrate the National Foundation Day of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known. Photo: -/kcna/kns/dpa
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North Korea's Kim Vows to Exponentially Boost Nuclear Arsenal

09 September 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 10 September 2024, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivering a speech to celebrate the National Foundation Day of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known. Photo: -/kcna/kns/dpa
09 September 2024, North Korea, Pyongyang: A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 10 September 2024, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivering a speech to celebrate the National Foundation Day of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known. Photo: -/kcna/kns/dpa

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country is now implementing a nuclear force construction policy to increase the number of nuclear weapons "exponentially,” state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

In a speech on North Korea's founding anniversary on Monday, Kim said the country must more thoroughly prepare its "nuclear capability and its readiness to use it properly at any given time in ensuring the security rights of the state,” said KCNA.
A strong military presence is needed to face "the various threats posed by the United States and its followers,” he added, according to Reuters.
Kim also said North Korea is facing a "grave threat" from what it sees as a US-led nuclear-based military bloc in the region.
South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy, Cho Chang-rae, and his US and Japanese counterparts on Tuesday condemned Pyongyang's recent diversification of nuclear delivery systems, tests and launches of multiple ballistic missiles.
Meeting in Seoul, the three reaffirmed a commitment to strengthen trilateral cooperation to ensure peace in the region, including by deterring North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, according to a joint statement released by the US State Department.
They also agreed to hold a second trilateral military exercise known as Freedom Edge in the near term.
South Korea will also hold a defense ministerial meeting with the member states of the United Nations Command (UNC) on Tuesday.
The UNC is led by the commander of the US military stationed in South Korea.
Last month, Germany became the latest to join the UNC in South Korea that helps police the heavily fortified border with North Korea and has committed to defend the South in the event of a war.
North Korea has criticized the UNC as an "illegal war organization" and Germany's entry into the US-led UN border monitoring force as raising tensions.