Iran's Foreign Minister says US must show goodwill gesture for direct talks
2 Min Read
Iran's top diplomat says the talks for the return of the US to the JCPOA could succeed if the US makes the necessary political decisions.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
Iran's Foreign Minister said that Iran is ready to swap prisoners with the US, highlighting that this is a humanitarian issue.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also commented on the Vienna Talks, which aim to remove the US' unilateral sanctions on Iran and to secure a return of the United States to the JCPOA, saying that they could succeed at the "earliest possible time," provided that the US makes the necessary political decisions to do so.
"We believe prisoner swap is a humanitarian issue ... unrelated to the nuclear accord ... We can do it immediately," Amir-Abdollahian told a panel at the Munich Security Conference.
When asked whether Tehran is ready to conduct direct talks with Washington, the foreign minister said that the US has asked for direct meetings, and stressed that if the US has good intentions, then it should show this by showing goodwill, such as unfreezing Iran's foreign assets.
The US is still tying the negotiations with the prisoner swap, as evidenced by US negotiator Robert Malley saying that a return to the deal is unlikely unless Iran releases prisoners held on spying charges.
However, Iran has before said that it refuses to tie both matters together, as it sees the prisoner swap to be a humanitarian affair and not tied to the nuclear talks, something it has stood by for months.
"Outrageous"=the US denying simple fact that "there IS an agreed deal on the matter of the detainees." Even on how to announce it.
— Saeed Khatibzadeh | سعید خطیبزاده (@SKhatibzadeh) July 18, 2021
Humanitarian swap was agreed with US & UK in Vienna-separate from JCPOA- on release of 10 prisoners on all sides.
Iran is ready to proceed TODAY.
