Iran-US Prisoner Swap Unrelated to JCPOA Talks: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Exchanging prisoners between Iran and the United States has nothing to do with the talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Nasser Kanaani said Iran has always regraded the issue of prisoner swap with the US on humanitarian grounds and has not tied the case to the outcome of the JCPOA revival talks.
He said while the exchange of inmates was possible from the viewpoint of Iran and Tehran’s stances were crystal clear, what Washington showed was only inaction and media propaganda.
“We believe that the (Iranian) prisoners (in the US) have been arrested on bogus charges and treated inhumanely and unlawfully,” the spokesman added, saying the US disregards human rights.
Iran attaches importance to the fate of its jailed citizens in the US, but reiterates that the issue of prisoner swap is a separate case that is unrelated to the negotiations on saving the 2015 nuclear deal, Kanaani emphasized.
Iran and the US have conducted prisoner exchanges twice in the past, once in January 2016 when the nuclear deal was implemented, and again in December 2019.
