Citing virus, Iran says it’s ready for prisoner swap with US

Tehran, May 10

Iran says it’s prepared for unconditional prisoner swap talks with the United States due to fears that the coronavirus may put the lives of the prisoners in danger, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

An Iranian information web site, Khabaronline.ir, quoted Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei as saying there’s a “readiness for all prisoners” to be mentioned with out situation.

“But the US has refused to answer, so far,” mentioned Rabiei. “We hope that as the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease threatens the lives of Iranian citizens in the US prisons, the US government eventually will prefer lives to politics.”                 

Rabiei mentioned Iran considers the US authorities liable for the well being of the Iranian prisoners, including that “it seems that the US has more readiness to bring the situation to an end”.

Rabiei didn’t elaborate however Iranian media in current months mentioned there are a number of Iranians in US custody, together with Sirous Asgari, a 60-year-old college professor.

Last week, US officers mentioned they have been making progress in efforts to safe the discharge of a detained Navy veteran in Iran. But they have been additionally pushing again on Iranian recommendations {that a} swap was within the works for the imprisoned Iranian American officers have been attempting to deport since final yr.

Ken Cuccinelli, the appearing deputy Homeland Security secretary, mentioned on Wednesday that the circumstances of American detainee Michael White in Iran and Asgari, the Iranian imprisoned within the United States, have by no means been linked.

He expressed frustration with current feedback from Iranian officers that there could also be a hyperlink between the 2 and complained that Iran had been gradual to just accept Asgari’s return.

White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained in July 2018 whereas visiting a girlfriend in Iran. He was convicted of insulting Iran’s supreme chief and posting personal data on-line.

He was launched from jail in March on a medical furlough that required him to stay within the nation. White is amongst tens of hundreds of prisoners granted medical furloughs by Iran, which was one of many first international locations to be hit onerous by the spreading coronavirus.

Trump administration officers have repeatedly mentioned they take into account the discharge of American hostages and detainees to be a excessive precedence.

In December, Iran launched a Princeton University scholar held for 3 years on broadly disputed espionage costs in alternate for the discharge of a detained Iranian scientist.

In March, the household of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran 13 years in the past, mentioned that they had been knowledgeable by US officers that that they had decided that Levinson was in all probability useless. Officials haven’t mentioned how they reached that conclusion. AP