Iran and the United States are in talks to exchange prisoners, but the process could take up to two months, according to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman. The prisoner swap is seen as a possible step toward reviving the 2015 nuclear deal that was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump.
Iran Says It Has No Direct Talks with US
Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said on Monday that Iran has no direct or indirect talks with the US on any issue, except for the prisoner swap. He said that Iran is in contact with Switzerland, which represents US interests in Tehran, to facilitate the exchange of prisoners.
Khatibzadeh said that Iran has presented a list of Iranian prisoners held in the US and other countries, and expects the US to do the same. He said that the process could take up to two months, and that Iran is ready to exchange all prisoners without any preconditions.
He also said that Iran is not linking the prisoner swap to the nuclear talks, which have been stalled since June. He said that Iran is waiting for the new administration of President Ebrahim Raisi to form its negotiating team before resuming the talks in Vienna.
US Says It Is Ready to Resume Nuclear Talks
The US State Department said on Monday that it is ready to resume the nuclear talks with Iran as soon as possible, and that it is not setting any deadlines or ultimatums. Spokesman Ned Price said that the US is concerned about Iran’s continued violations of the nuclear deal, and that it is in Iran’s interest to return to compliance.
Price also said that the US is committed to securing the release of Americans detained in Iran, and that it has raised the issue repeatedly with Iranian officials through intermediaries. He said that the US is prepared to engage in a mutual exchange of prisoners, but he did not provide any details or timelines.
He also said that the US is not linking the prisoner swap to the nuclear talks, and that it is pursuing both issues separately and simultaneously.
Background on Iran-US Prisoner Swap
Iran and the US have a history of exchanging prisoners, often as a gesture of goodwill or a sign of diplomatic progress. In 2016, on the same day that the nuclear deal was implemented, Iran released four American prisoners, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, in exchange for seven Iranians held in the US.
In 2019, Iran freed Chinese-American scholar Xiyue Wang, who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, in exchange for Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani, who had been arrested in the US for violating sanctions.
In 2020, Iran released US Navy veteran Michael White, who had been detained since 2018 for insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as part of a deal that involved a Swiss-mediated payment of $2.3 million by the US to an Iranian-American doctor who had sued White’s family for defamation.
Currently, there are at least four Americans known to be held in Iran, including Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer Namazi, who have been imprisoned since 2015 and 2016 respectively on charges of collaborating with a hostile government. The other two are environmentalist Morad Tahbaz and Iranian-American businessman Emad Shargi.
Iran has also accused several other Americans of spying or plotting against its government, and has demanded their extradition from other countries. These include former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and whose family believes he died in captivity; former US Air Force officer Monica Witt, who defected to Iran in 2013 and was indicted by the US for espionage; and Iranian-American journalist Marzieh Hashemi, who was detained by the FBI in 2019 as a material witness in an unspecified case.
