US, UK Need to Stop Linking Prisoner Release With JCPOA, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Says
17:47 GMT 17.07.2021 (Updated: 18:24 GMT 17.07.2021)
© REUTERS / LEONHARD FOEGER
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Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Tehran was negotiating the exchange of prisoners with Washington.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Araghchi said on Saturday that the US and the UK should not link the release of prisoners with the Iran nuclear deal.
He added that ten prisoners "on all sides" may be freed on Sunday if Washington and London fulfill their obligations under the deal.
US & UK need to understand this and stop linking a humanitarian exchange—ready to be implemented—with the JCPOA.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 17, 2021
Keeping such an exchange hostage to political aims achieves neither.
TEN PRISONERS on all sides may be released TOMORROW if US&UK fulfill their part of deal. 2/2
The minister added that the nuclear deal negotiations in Vienna must wait for the new administration of President-elect Ebrahim Raisi to be inaugurated.
We're in a transition period as a democratic transfer of power is underway in our capital. #Vienna_talks must thus obviously await our new administration. This is what every democracy demands. 1/2
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 17, 2021
The US and Iran have been in talks over the exchange of prisoners for the past several years. A partial swap took place in 2016, the year after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed. Another swap happened in 2019.
