Tehran repeated on Sunday that it was ready for a prisoner swap with the United States "without preconditions" , saying that the bullet was in the Washington court. The Islamic Republic had already stated in December that it was ready for other exchanges of prisoners with the United States, following an exchange of an American imprisoned in Iran and an Iranian detained on American soil.
"There is a desire to exchange all the prisoners (...) without preconditions, but it is the American government which has so far refused to respond," said Ali Rabii, spokesman for the government, on Sunday. government, quoted by the semi-official agency Isna. "It now appears that America is more ready than before" to take this type of action, he added, adding: "Washington has been informed of our availability" .
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When questioned by AFP, the State Department neither denied nor confirmed any ongoing discussions on the prisoners. "We are not conducting sensitive diplomatic talks through the media , " said US diplomacy spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. "The United States is determined to repatriate all Americans unjustly detained abroad," she confined herself to adding.
Ali Rabii notably expressed his concern about the state of health of the Iranian prisoners detained in the United States, affirming that they were "not well treated" . In March, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit Iran head on, the United States called on Tehran to release all American prisoners. Tehran had called for the same measure in Washington regarding Iranian detainees. Iran is the country most affected by the epidemic in the Middle East, and the United States, on the other hand, has recorded the highest number of deaths linked to the virus in the world.
The Islamic Republic has temporarily released more than 100,000 detainees in stages since March due to the pandemic, according to its justice system.
Several Iranian-Americans, businessman Siamak Namazi, his father Bagher, as well as Morad Tahbaz, an environmentalist, are detained in Iran. Tehran temporarily released a U.S. Navy veteran, Micheal White, on March 19, according to the U.S. Department of State. Tehran and Washington, enemies of more than 40 years, have been at loggerheads since the United States withdrew in 2018 from the international Iranian nuclear agreement, signed in 2015, before reimposing heavy economic sanctions against Tehran.