Iran says has no pre-conditions for prisoner swap with US

Amirabdollahian made the remarks on the sidelines of a conference entitled “Iran and BRICS: Prospects for Partnership and Cooperation” in the capital, Tehran, on Tuesday.

He went on to say that messages have been exchanged between Iran and the United States through Oman and Qatar in this regard for some months.

“The issue of prisoner exchange is a humanitarian one and we do not consider any preconditions for it. We have announced to the intermediary parties that we will exchange prisoners within agreed frameworks,” the top diplomat added.

An agreement on the exchange of prisoners was reached between Tehran and Washington in Vienna on the sidelines of negotiations concerning the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Tehran has repeatedly stressed it is ready for a prisoner exchange with the United States based on the agreement and independently of the nuclear deal, which the US unilaterally abandoned in May 2018 despite Iran’s full and strict compliance.

Oman has emerged as a key mediator in facilitating indirect talks between Tehran and Washington on salvation of the nuclear accord, the removal of sanctions as well as prisoner swap.

Iran and the United States have conducted prisoner exchanges twice in the past, once in January 2016 when the JCPOA was implemented, and again in December 2019.