Prisoner Swap with US Unrelated to Release of Iran’s Assets: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights said a recent agreement on the exchange of prisoners with the US has nothing to do with the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad, stressing that Tehran cares only about the fate of its jailed citizens.
In an interview with Al-Alam News Network, Kazem Gharibabadi dismissed the notion that Iran has agreed to release the American prisoners in order to have access to its assets.
The issue of Iran’s financial resources that have been held hostage abroad has nothing to do with the prisoner swap deal, he underlined.
Gharibabadi noted that the Islamic Republic entered negotiations about the exchange of prisoners with the US only because it supports its nationals and people who have been jailed in the US on bogus charges.
A number of Iranian citizens have been imprisoned in the US illegitimately and on spurious charges like bypassing the cruel sanctions imposed by the US, he explained.
Last month, the Foreign Ministry of Iran confirmed the ongoing process of releasing $6 billion worth of Iran’s funds, which had been unlawfully held in South Korea due to US sanctions.
The ministry emphasized that releasing the funds had consistently been on its agenda, noting that these funds had been "illegally blocked" under the pretext of "overseas banks' concerns about America's oppressive sanctions."