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.”
