Iran hints at prisoner swaps if US shows flexibility over nuclear deal

Tehran known to want release of $8bn of overseas assets and guarantees that US will stick to any agreement reached

Iran can make a large-scale prisoner swap immediately and is willing to hold direct talks with the US if it makes a major goodwill gesture such as releasing $8bn worth of Iranian assets locked abroad, Iran's top diplomat has said.

Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, also said the US and Iran had never been so close to reaching a deal as we are today", referring to an agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal from which the US had walked out on in 2018.