A woman holds up a copy of the Koran, Islam's holy book, as she marches by another man holding up a sign denouncing the US and another waving an Iranian national flag during a demonstration against the burning of the Koran in Sweden, after the weekly Muslim Friday prayers at Mosalah mosque in Tehran on July 21 2023. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. Citizens Imprisoned in Iran Placed On House Arrest Before Planned Prisoner Swap

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, five Americans detained in Iran have been placed under house arrest as the first step in a planned prisoner exchange between Tehran and Washington, D.C., that will include the release of roughly $6 billion in Iranian government assets blocked under U.S. sanctions.

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ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JULY 18: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin answers questions during a press briefing after participating in a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on July 18, 2023 at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley answered a range of questions during the briefing centered primarily around the ongoing war in Ukraine. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. Orders Additional Deployment of Jets, Warships To The Middle East

With an increase in concerning Iranian activities, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, along with the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, to the Middle East in a bid to monitor key waterways in the region following Iran’s seizure and harassment of commercial shipping vessels in recent months, according to the Pentagon.

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