Iran’s claims of a prisoner swap deal are a ‘cruel lie,’ US official says – National | 24CA News
Iran’s prime diplomat claimed Sunday {that a} prisoner swap was close to with the U.S., although he supplied no proof to assist his assertion. The U.S. instantly dismissed his feedback as a “cruel lie.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has made comparable feedback up to now about attainable offers with the U.S. on frozen property overseas and different points that by no means got here to fruition. Some of these remarks have appeared geared toward shoring up home assist amid the mass protests difficult Iran’s theocracy and supporting the nation’s troubled rial foreign money.
However, in an interview Sunday with Iranian state tv, Amirabdollahian claimed that Iran had “reached an agreement in recent days regarding the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States.”
“If everything goes well on the American’s side, I think we will see the exchange of prisoners in the short term,” he added. He alleged a doc between Iran and the U.S. laying out the change had been “indirectly signed and approved” since March 2022.
Reached by The Associated Press, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price referred to as the feedback “another especially cruel lie that only adds to the suffering of their families.”
“We are working relentlessly to secure the release of the three wrongfully detained Americans in Iran,” Price mentioned. “We will not stop until they are reunited with their loved ones.”
A separate assertion from the White House’s National Security Council additionally referred to as the remarks “false.”
“Unfortunately, Iranian officials will not hesitate to make things up, and the latest cruel claim will cause more heartache for the families of Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz,” the council mentioned, naming the three Americans identified to be held by Tehran on broadly disputed espionage fees.
Iran lengthy has taken prisoners with Western passports or ties to make use of in negotiations with international nations.
The proof in opposition to them has by no means been made public. The detainees all have twin U.S.-Iranian citizenship, one thing Tehran doesn’t acknowledge.
In current days, nevertheless, Namazi was allowed to conduct an interview with CNN from Tehran’s infamous Evin jail — one thing that may not have occurred with out the acquiescence of safety forces.
Meanwhile, Ali Bagheri Kani, a deputy Iranian international minister who has dealt with nuclear talks with world powers, made a visit Sunday to Oman, a longtime interlocutor between Tehran and Washington.
Amirabdollahian’s feedback additionally come after Iran and Saudi Arabia, with Chinese mediation, introduced Friday they’d reestablish diplomatic ties and reopen embassies after a seven-year freeze in relations.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
