After the U.S. denies the deal, Iran says prisoner exchange talks are underway

Tehran, Iran (Associated Press)-An Iranian government spokesman said on Tuesday that two months after Washington denied Iran’s reports of a deal that had been reached, negotiations with the United States to exchange prisoners were still ongoing.

The official IRNA news agency quoted cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei as saying that the exchange negotiations are based on humanitarian interests.

“These negotiations are ongoing and if any acceptable results are obtained, they will be announced,” he said, but did not elaborate.

Rabiei added that Iran has repeatedly expressed its readiness to release all prisoners in exchange for the release of all Iranian prisoners held in the United States. He added that President Biden has been following the case since he took office.

In early May, a person familiar with the discussions stated that the United States and Iran are actively negotiating the release of prisoners, but denied reports from Iran’s state-run television that the deal had been reached.

The exchange of prisoners between the United States and Iran is not uncommon, and in recent years both countries have often sought to release detainees. But as the Biden administration hopes to restart nuclear negotiations, any movement between them is particularly sensitive. The 2015 atomic agreement between the two countries included the exchange of prisoners.

Iran occasionally makes similar statements, but there are no verifiable results. Negotiations between Iran and world powers in Vienna on how to rejoin the nuclear agreement between Tehran and Washington remained stagnant after six rounds.

Tehran insisted that the United States lift all sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump, including sanctions unrelated to its nuclear program. At the same time, Washington stated that Iran needs to comply with all restrictions. Trump unilaterally let Iran withdraw from the agreement in 2018, saying that it needs to renegotiate.

Washington did not attend the Vienna talks, but an American delegation was in the Austrian capital, and representatives of other major powers had been shuttled between the American and Iranian delegations.