Tehran: Exchange Offer Only for US Prisoners, Not Britons

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said late on Thursday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s recent proposal to swap prisoners with the US only includes American nationals jailed in Iran, not Britons or nationals of other countries.

“What the Iranian Foreign Minister raised in New York just concerns Iranian prisoners in the US or those arrested in other countries at Washington’s request with a number of American criminals in Iran,” Mousavi underlined.

He made the remarks in reaction to UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who dismissed what he assumed was Zarif’s suggestion of a prisoner swap for Iranian-British dual citizen, Nazanin Zaghari, who is jailed in Tehran for espionage.

Basically, the prisoner swap offer has nothing to do with Britons, as the case mentioned by British officials is totally different, and the UK government is responsible for her situation, Mousavi added.

Addressing an event at the Asia Society in New York on Wednesday, Zarif told Reuters he was proposing "a serious dialogue" with the United States on a possible prisoner swap.

Zarif was in New York on Wednesday to attend a UN conference dubbed 'the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.'

Soon after the Zarif’s remarks, the US State Department said in a statement that it advocated for a humanitarian resolution to the case of US citizens detained in Iran. However, it urged Iran to immediately release the American prisoners first.

“We are aware of Foreign Minister Zarif’s recent comments to a NGO in New York regarding wrongfully detained Americans in Iran. We note his reference to a humanitarian resolution of those cases, which we have called for repeatedly,” a US State Department spokesperson told US-based Al-Monitor website.

Later in the day, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman criticized the US State Department’s "hasty" reaction to FM Zarif’s proposal, and its call for the "unilateral release" of all US prisoners.

“The reaction shows they lack a proper understanding of the concepts of negotiation, agreement, and exchange,” the Iranian spokesman noted.

Mousavi said if there is a will in the US, Zarif’s proposal is "clear" and does not require any "interpretation and clarification".

Zarif’s proposal to exchange prisoners with the United States is serious, but it’s nothing new, the Iranian spokesman said.

“The Iranian Foreign Ministry, within the framework of its responsibilities, is ready to take action on the exchange of individuals convicted and imprisoned in Iran by the country’s Judiciary on specific charges,” he said.

The Foreign Ministry would do so in exchange for both the release of all Iranians jailed in the United States and the granting of nolle prosequis to all those detained in different countries on baseless charges of violating the US’ illegal sanctions or under Washington’s pressure, Mousavi added.

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