US Denies Hostage Deal With Iran

WASHINGTON - The United States is denying a report on Iranian state television that Tehran has reached a deal with Washington and Britain to free prisoners with Western ties in exchange for billions of dollars in new economic aid.

"Reports that a prisoner swap deal has been reached are not true," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Sunday. "As we have said, we always raise the cases of Americans detained or missing in Iran. We will not stop until we are able to reunite them with their families." White House chief of staff Ron Klain also denied the Iranian report on CBS News's "Face the Nation" show, saying, “There is no agreement to release these four Americans. We're working very hard to get them released.” Iranian state TV quoted a source as saying, "The Americans accepted to pay $7 billion and swap four Iranians who were active in bypassing sanctions for four American spies who have served part of their sentences.”