Iran says ‘every thing prepared’ for prisoner swap, US denies
Iran says ‘every thing prepared’ for prisoner swap, US denies
Iran’s high diplomat on Sunday mentioned “every thing is prepared” to implement a stalled prisoner trade cope with the USA, which Washington promptly denied as a “merciless lie”.
No less than three US residents are held within the nation’s prisons, in response to Iran’s judiciary and the US State Division.
“We have now reached an settlement in current days concerning the trade of prisoners between Iran and the USA,” Overseas Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian advised state broadcaster IRINN.
The deal had been “signed and authorized not directly” final 12 months, he added in a televised interview, saying the “American aspect is making its final technical preparations” forward of implementation.
“In our opinion, every thing is prepared,” the minister mentioned.
“If every thing goes nicely on the American aspect, I feel we are going to witness the trade of prisoners within the brief time period.”
State Division spokesman Ned Worth known as Amir-Abdollahian’s declare {that a} deal had been reached “one other particularly merciless lie that solely provides to the struggling of their (the prisoners’) households”.
“We’re working relentlessly to safe the discharge of the three wrongfully detained People in Iran,” Worth added.
In October, Iranian media mentioned a prisoner swap agreed by Tehran and Washington included the unfreezing of Iranian funds overseas, however Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday made no point out of that.
– Espionage prices –
The overseas minister’s remarks got here two days after a CNN interview with Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman held in Tehran’s Evin jail since 2015.
Namazi, 51, was blocked from leaving the nation throughout a go to and later sentenced to 10 years in jail on prices of collaborating with a overseas authorities.
He denies the accusations, which US officers have known as groundless.
His father Mohammad Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF official, was arrested in February 2016 when he went to Iran to attempt to free his son.
They have been each sentenced to 10 years on spying prices in October 2016. Baquer, underneath home arrest since 2018, had his sentence commuted in 2020, and was lastly granted permission to depart the nation for medical remedy in October.
No less than 16 Western passport holders, most of them twin nationals — which Iran doesn’t usually recognise — are detained within the nation.
Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American who additionally holds British nationality, was arrested alongside different environmentalists in January 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in jail for “conspiring with America”.
Iranian-American enterprise capitalist Emad Sharqi was sentenced to 10 years in jail on spying prices, Iranian media reported in 2021, saying he was captured making an attempt to flee the nation.
Karan Vafadari, an Iranian-American member of the Zoroastrian minority religion, was arrested in June 2016 on allegations of spying and launched on bail in July 2018. He’s nonetheless unable to depart Iran.
Iran’s judiciary reported in August “dozens” of Iranian nationals had been detained in the USA, together with Reza Sarhangpour and Kambiz Attar Kashani who’re accused of getting violated US sanctions in opposition to Tehran.
The US State Division mentioned Sunday the particular envoy for hostage affairs Roger Carstens would journey to Qatar Monday for the International Safety Discussion board going down in Doha.
Carstens will “have interaction with authorities representatives and stakeholders on issues associated to the decision of wrongful detention and hostage instances worldwide,” the division mentioned in an announcement.
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