The United States has been engaging in “indirect but active” discussions to secure the release of U.S. detainees in Iran, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday, adding that Washington was treating those talks independently from the nuclear talks. Earlier, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said Tehran was holding talks on prisoner exchanges with the United States aimed at securing the release of Iranians held in U.S. jails and other countries over violations of U.S. sanctions.