Progress in the Iran talks keeps being made, and now it’s not just the nuclear deal that seems imminent. A US-Iran prisoner exchange which only came up in the past weeks is expected to happen.
The way this came up was rather roundabout, as with the Vienna talks progressing, US officials suggested Iran should throw in four American prisoners they are holding. On Saturday, Iran FM Hossein Amir Abdollahian confirmed Iran was always ready fort an exchange deal, noting that the US is holding a number of Iranians as well.
The expectation is that a prisoner deal could be announced soon. Exact details aren’t clear, but the Iranians reportedly expect five or six prisoners out of the swap. The US only ever mentioned four people they wanted, but indications are that some prisoners with multiple nationalities could be included.
Most of the Iranians held by the US are held on sanctions-related charges. With sanctions relief coming in a nuclear deal, holding many of them may not make so much sense.
Sigh. How do you get “progress” in the talks when the subject just came up? Not to mention that it was the US that decided to suddenly throw this in to the mix? Does that sound like the US is dealing seriously with Iran’s core concerns? No more so than the US did in its response to Russia’s concerns. Distract and evade is the US policy, not agreement.
Seriously, does anyone read this tripe before it gets published?
“On Saturday, Iran FM Hossein Amir Abdollahian confirmed Iran was always ready fort an exchange deal, noting that the US is holding a number of Iranians as well.”
Here in the US, I would imagine that a good percentage of our people weren’t even aware of the US holding Iranians. And those who were aware think Iranians are subhuman anyway. While the MSM pounds them with the idea that only innocents are being held by the Iranians.