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Zarif says 'negotiating table is there'

Speaking to journalists at the Iranian mission to the UN, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif revealed details about correspondence with the Donald Trump administration over a potential prisoner exchange.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif delivers his statement, during the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, November 28, 2018. Salvatore Di Nolfi/Pool via REUTERS - RC1CF2219DE0

NEW YORK — Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif acknowledged today that he had received a letter from Robert C. O’Brien, US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, asking for the release of detained US citizens.

Zarif’s confirmation that he had received the US envoy's letter comes after he publicly proposed a prisoner swap yesterday, and said he was authorized to negotiate such an exchange.

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