Iran insists prisoner swap not precondition for nuclear deal
Iran's comments came after US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley said a nuclear deal was unlikely without the release of four unjustly held Americans.
Iran ruled out a prisoner exchange as a precondition for a renewed nuclear agreement on Monday, a day after the United States suggested a swap would be a necessary part of any deal made with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on Monday that Iran’s negotiators have never accepted a prisoner exchange as a precondition for the nuclear talks, which are “complicated enough and shouldn’t be made more complicated.”
Khatibzadeh’s comments came a day after US special envoy on Iran Robert Malley suggested that a deal to revive the multilateral nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was unlikely without the release of four US citizens held by Iran.
“It is very hard for us to imagine getting back into the nuclear deal while four innocent Americans are being held hostage by Iran," Malley told Reuters.
