Iranian officials are demanding the release of Iranian prisoners in the US and it is believed that nuclear talks in Vienna could open up the possibility of a prisoner swap.
US President Joe Biden and Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi (Joe Biden-Ebrahim Raisi)
Biden administration officials have insisted that their task of freeing the Americans is separate from negotiations to re-enter the nuclear deal, but meetings in Vienna were nonetheless a big way to move firmly to their release. present opportunities. Advocates seeking the release of four Americans detained in Iran are concerned that if the 2015 nuclear deal fails to re-enter the nuclear deal, there will be a golden chance of freeing US captives. The opportunity will slip out of hand.
A senior State Department official, speaking to reporters after the latest round of talks last week, said the US had made progress on efforts to release the Americans but cautioned that “something can be done until everything is agreed”. also does not agree. He said that this is a priority and we are strongly insisting that the four American citizens who have been wrongfully detained be released.
Agreement in danger with new Iranian president
Those imprisoned include 49-year-old Siamak Namazi, who was arrested in 2015, and his 84-year-old father, Bakar Namazi, who was arrested in 2016, Morad Tahbaz, along with five other conservationists from the US in January 2018. Arrested for spying, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The same Imad Shargi was publicly convicted by an Iranian court of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Biden administration is pressuring Iran for information about Bob Levinson. A former US intelligence officer is believed to have died in Iranian custody after going missing in the country in 2007.
During the US-Iran nuclear talks, the release of prisoners is nothing new. The Obama administration released four Americans from Iran in 2016 as part of a prisoner exchange program on the day of the JCPOA nuclear deal. Former President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and Biden is determined to bring America back in the deal. The US and Iran are talking through diplomatic mediators and the seventh round of talks is expected to take place in Vienna soon. However, months of efforts to salvage the deal are at risk due to Iran’s growing nuclear activity and the arrival of a new Iranian president in August.
talks paving way for prisoner swap
US officials are hoping to come to an agreement with Iran when it rejoins the JCPOA, but reminded that talks could fall apart without a deal. A State Department spokesman said the US special envoy for Iran, Robert Mali, who is leading the nuclear talks in Vienna, wrongly agreed with Roger Carstens, the president’s special envoy for hostage affairs, on all issues related to detainees. working together.
Officials in Tehran have said they are seeking the release of Iranian prisoners in the US and that a prisoner swap could be expected in the midst of nuclear talks in Vienna. The Voice of America reported in May that at least 13 Iranians are proven or alleged to be in US custody, raising the possibility of their release in any prisoner exchange.
More number of Iranian prisoners
“The idea of a prisoner swap has always been on the agenda,” Iranian cabinet spokesman Ali Rabi reportedly said in April. The number of Iranians detained in the US is larger than the number of US prisoners in Iran. Hadi Ghaimi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, said that it appears that this time also we can see the pattern of 2016. Referring to the prisoner exchange that took place in 2016, Ghaimi said.
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