Deal with America and Saudi agreement.. Iran reveals its cards
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian revealed on Sunday that Tehran reached an agreement with Washington over the past few days on the exchange of prisoners.
“We reached an agreement with Washington on the exchange of prisoners over the past days,” Abdollahian said in an interview published by Iranian media.
“The exchange of letters is still going on in talks about lifting the sanctions, and we have reached an agreement on the subject of the prisoner exchange in recent days, and if things go well on the American side, it will be in the coming days,” he said.
“Since March of last year, a document was indirectly signed between us and the United States, and the US side is in the process of final technical review,” he said.
Iranian reports revealed that the phone call made by the American detainee of Iranian origins, Siamak Namazi, last week to the American channel CNN from inside Evin Prison, north of Tehran, was coordinated with the Iranian side.”
The United States and Britain currently hold the largest number of prisoners in Iran, and citizens of Austria, Germany, France and Sweden are held in Iran.
In addition to Siamak Namazi, two of the detainees – Morad Tahbaz and Bagher Namazi – were released last year through Omani mediation.
Abdollahian’s comments came as Washington reached an agreement on a prisoner swap, while Deputy Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani was in Muscat, according to Iranian state media.
Western countries say Iran uses foreign nationals and dual nationals as leverage in negotiations by detaining them on various charges, including “espionage, cooperating with foreign security agencies, or working against the regime.” Iran denies the charges.
Regarding the nuclear issue, the Iranian Foreign Minister said, “For us, the elimination of false accusations against Iran at the IAEA is an important issue, and now there is strong cooperation between us and the agency, and this will have a good impact on the negotiations to lift the sanctions.”
“In the sanctions-lifting negotiations, the American side did not have the courage to make a final decision, but Iran clearly put ideas on the table,” he said.
Saudi-Iranian Agreement
Abdollahian also addressed the Saudi-Iranian agreement signed last Friday under the auspices of China. “The Saudi side announced at the Baghdad meeting its readiness to restore relations to their normal state,” he said.
“The agreement between Tehran and Riyadh is in line with the interests of both countries, and this agreement was not signed against any of the countries in the region,” Abdollahian said.
“The agreement between Tehran and Riyadh is in the interest of both countries,” he said. “The issues of Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine are among their own mechanisms, and we hope that all countries in the region will benefit from this agreement.”
The Iranian Foreign Minister continued, “The negotiations with the Saudi side were long and difficult, but the most important thing is to reach an agreement.”
