Trump administration ‘hopeful’ that Iran will agree to negotiations Iran may pursue more swaps aimed at easing oil sanctions US, Iran do not agree on sanctions preconditions This weekend’s US-Iran prisoner trade is unlikely to lead to a near term easing of oil sanctions, but signals that negotiations between the two sides may be nearing, analysts have told S&P Global Platts. “Prisoner releases alone will not facilitate sanctions relief, but they could pave the way toward direct US-Iran negotiations and the potential, eventual reduction in US sanctions relief,” said Henry Rome, an Iran analyst with Eurasia Group, said Tuesday. On Saturday, Iran released Princeton scholar Xiyue Wang, detained since 2016, and the US dropped charges against Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani, who was arrested in the US in 2018. The swap took place in Switzerland. “Thank you to Iran on a very fair negotiation,” President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday. […]