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Iran ready for prisoners swap with US ‘without preconditions’
Iran is ready for a full prisoner swap with the US, amid the country’s fear for the health and safety of Iranians in US jails during the Pandemic, a local news outlet reported.
“We are ready to exchange Iranian and American prisoners and we are ready to discuss this issue without with the US without any preconditions, “ Ali Rabiei, Iran’s government spokesperson said quoted by the Khabar online, an Iranian media agency.
Rabiei said that the US yet to respond to Iran’s proposal.
“We hope that as the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease threatens the lives of Iranian citizens in the US prisons, the US government eventually will prefer lives to politics… We are worried about the safety and health of Iranians in jail. . . We hold America responsible for Iranians’ safety amid the new Coronavirus outbreak,” the Iranian official said.
Rabiei added that it seems that the US has more readiness to bring the situation to an end.
In a rare act of cooperation between two longtime rivals, the US and Iran swapped prisoners in 2019 — American graduate student Xiyue Wang, detained for three years on spying charges, and imprisoned Iranian stem-cell researcher Massoud Soleimani, accused of sanction violations, AlJazeera reported.
According to the report, the exchange in December last year was facilitated by the Swiss government.
“There is no need for a third country to mediate between Iran and America for the prisoner exchange,” Rabiei has told Khabar Online.
Michael White, a US Navy veteran who has been detained in Iran since 2018, is reportedly a likely candidate to be swapped.
He was detained in Iran for allegedly insulting the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and posting private information online but he was released from prison in mid-March on medical furlough but remains in Iran.
Iran is believed to be holding at least four Americans.
Iran says U.S. authorities are holding some 20 Iranian nationals in jail.
It comes as, so far, 1,309,698 people in the United States have been infected with the COVID-19 with 78,799 deaths, while Iran witnessed 107,603 positive cases with 6,640 fatalities.
Two people have been killed amid protests against a poppy eradication campaign in northeastern Badakhshan province, local officials said.
Authorities said counter-narcotics forces were deployed on Friday to Atan Jalo area of Argo district to destroy poppy fields. Clashes erupted after a number of farmers and residents reportedly attempted to block the operation.
Officials said a child was killed during Friday’s unrest, while another person died on Saturday as protests and tensions continued in the area.
According to local authorities, demonstrators also temporarily blocked the Kishm–Faizabad highway, disrupting traffic for several hours before it was reopened following coordinated efforts by security officials, religious scholars, and community elders.
Officials blamed “drug traffickers and criminal groups” for inciting the unrest and said security forces have since regained control of the area.
A high-ranking Uzbek delegation comprising government officials and private sector representatives from the Republic of Karakalpakstan arrived in Kabul on Saturday to discuss the expansion of trade and economic cooperation with Afghanistan.
The delegation is headed by Amanbay Orinbayev, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Karakalpakstan.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the delegation is expected to hold talks with Nooruddin Azizi, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, focusing on strengthening bilateral trade and economic relations.
The ministry said the visiting delegation will also participate in trade connectivity meetings and business-to-business sessions aimed at enhancing commercial cooperation between the two sides.
As part of the visit, the Uzbek delegation is also scheduled to travel to Balkh province, where members will attend additional trade meetings and inaugurate an exhibition showcasing Uzbekistan’s domestic products.
Hamid Karzai, former president of Afghanistan, has expressed concern over recent developments along the Durand Line, saying Pakistan has increased military and economic pressure on villages and residents living near the line.
In a statement, Karzai said the apparent purpose of these pressures is to push residents of Durand Line areas to seek help from Pakistani institutions for resolving security and other local issues.
He added that, amid this situation, some tribal elders from both sides of the Durand Line recently signed documents described as “peace agreements,” which were later officially welcomed by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to Karzai, these developments amount to an effort by Pakistan to legitimize the Durand Line and represent an action against Afghanistan’s national sovereignty.
The former Afghan president also urged the relevant Afghan authorities to provide the public with a clear explanation regarding the recent agreements and developments along the Durand Line.
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