The head of American diplomacy Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States would continue to apply pressure on Iran and its nuclear program after the prisoner release deal.

“Nothing in our general approach to Iran has changed. We are pursuing a strategy of deterrence, pressure and diplomacy,” Blinken told reporters.

“We have been clear on the fact that Iran needs to defuse the situation in order to make room for diplomacy in the future,” the US secretary of state added.

Last week, after extended diplomatic negotiations with Iranian leaders, the administration of US President Joe Biden reached a first agreement with Tehran to release five imprisoned Americans.

In return, South Korea can transfer six billion dollars of frozen Iranian funds to a special account in Qatar, which Iran will be able to use under strict conditions.

This fragile arrangement shows, according to experts, a release of tension between the two long-time adversaries, without giving any indication of a new deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

The US secretary of state said today that he could not confirm a report that Iran was slowing its accumulation of enriched uranium to the point where it was approaching the limit for building weapons, but would welcome any move by Tehran to de-escalate its “increasing nuclear of the threat”.

As he told a press conference, the head of US diplomacy spoke on Monday with the families of some of the prisoners who were released and placed under house arrest last week. The secretary said Iran’s transfer of American prisoners from prison to house arrest was unrelated to any other aspect of US policy toward Iran, which reflected a strategy of deterrence, pressure and diplomacy.