WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday he could not confirm a report that Iran slowed its pace of amassing near-weapons-grade enriched uranium but would welcome any Iranian steps to de-escalate its "growing nuclear threat."
On Thursday, sources said Iran may free five detained U.S. citizens as part of a deal to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea.
Iran allowed four detained U.S. citizens to move into house arrest from prison.
"Of course, we would welcome any steps that Iran takes to actually deescalate the growing nuclear threat that it has posed since the United States got out of the Iran nuclear deal," Blinken told a news conference, alluding to former U.S. President Donald Trump's 2018 abandonment of that agreement.
Blinken emphasized that the agreement included U.S. citizens who have all been designated as wrongfully detained and said Washington would continue to examine other cases.
Persons:
Antony Blinken, Blinken, Donald Trump's, Roya Hakakian, Sherry Hakimi, Nazanin Boniadi, Leah Millis, Iran's, I'm, Shahab Dalili, Biden, Dalili, we're, Humeyra Pamuk, Simon Lewis, Arshad Mohammed, Daphne Psaledakis, Josie Kao
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U.S, Union and United Nations, Iranian, U.S . State Department, REUTERS, State Department, Thomson
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Iran, U.S, South Korea, United States, American, Iranian, Washington , U.S, Washington