Iran Pushing for Repatriation of Nationals in US Prisons
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman voiced the country’s determination to bring scores of nationals being held at the US prisons back to home, denying reports of Washington’s official request for prisoner exchange with Iran.
Speaking to reporters in her weekly press conference in Tehran on Wednesday, Marziyeh Afkham said Iran is seriously pursuing the issue of Iranians imprisoned by the US through the “appropriate channels”.
She said Washington has imprisoned some 15 Iranians on charges relating to the anti-Iran sanctions, noting that around 70 others have been also put in jail on various charges and are being held “in inhumane conditions, on trumped-up charges and on illegitimate grounds.”
Afkham added that Iran and the US have even held talks on the issue of prisoners on the sidelines of the negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program, but made it clear that Iran has not received any request from the US for the exchange of prisoners.
He remarks came a day after the attorney of Amir Mirzaee Hekmati, a spy that is serving a 10-year prison term in Iran, told Tasnim that Washington has proposed a prisoner exchange plan to Iran.
Later, the US State Department denied the report, but stressed that Washington calls on the Iranian government to release former US Marine Amir Hekmati immediately.
