“We have already voiced our readiness to exchange inmates with the U.S., and we are still ready to do so. Negotiations have been conducted in different ways over the matter, and parties have reached the necessary agreements. It is now up to the U.S. administration to decide whether it wants to implement this agreement or not. We are prepared to enforce it,” Nasser Kan’ani told ISNA in an interview published on Sunday.

The agreement was reached in Vienna on the sidelines of negotiations concerning the Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers.

Kanaani also underlined that the Islamic Republic will never sacrifice its own political independence for the sake of certain diplomatic relations, roundly dismissing allegations that Russia is obstructing the Vienna talks on the JCPOA revival and removal of sanctions against Tehran.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not sacrifice its political independence for the sake of [diplomatic] relations with any other countries. The same approach is also being exercised throughout the sanctions removal talks. Russia is a signatory to the JCPOA, and has naturally participated in the negotiation process and made comments,” he said.

Kanaani also rejected claims that Russia has asked Iran to delay the agreement until a later time in winter. The senior Iranian diplomat went on to dismiss allegations that Russia is obstructing the talks in the Austrian capital, stressing that it is the US side that must take on its responsibility, and contribute to the conclusion of the accord.

“The fact that [the United States of] America occasionally tends to level allegations against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia is simply a blame game,” Kanaani said.

The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry also stressed that Russia and China have facilitated and are assisting the advancement of Vienna talks, emphasizing that the official positions of Moscow and Beijing are completely in support of JCPOA revival negotiations and Tehran’s stance.

“The U.S. government is a party that has left the negotiations, and is now inventing excuses and obstructing the conclusion of the final agreement. It is worth mentioning that the political independence of the Islamic Republic of Iran is so important that it will not be influenced by the political view of any other country,” Kanaani said.

The top Iranian diplomat also called on Saudi Arabia to adopt serious measures on humanitarian grounds and release Iranian national Khalil Dardmand, who was arrested by Saudi forces in the holy city of Mecca in July.

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Saeed Khatibzadeh said Iran had indirect talks with the U.S. and direct talks with the UK on humanitarian issues such as swapping prisoners but the U.S. didn’t fulfill its part of the deal and linked the swap to political issues.

Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Khatibzadeh said the U.S. remarks concerning the swap were astounding. “The comment we heard from America is astounding. In addition to the JCPOA talks in Vienna, we had parallel but separate talks with the United States and with the British on this humanitarian issue. Releasing Iranians who have been unjustly and cruelly imprisoned in the United States, some European countries, and other countries under false pretenses is a priority for Iran, but we looked at it as a humanitarian issue. What the United States is doing is tying a human issue to political issues,” Khatibzadeh stated.

He added, “All sides went to make preparations, and the U.S. part of the deal was not fulfilled until yesterday, and when Iran told the other sides that the seventh round [of Vienna nuclear talks] will be held by the new government, the U.S. tried to tie this humanitarian issue to the JCPOA talks.”

The spokesman was reiterating what he said a day earlier. Khatibzadeh on Sunday confirmed that a swap has been agreed with Washington and London a day after the U.S. denied the swap. “Iran is ready to proceed TODAY,” Khatibzadeh said on Twitter. He was responding to a U.S. response to an earlier tweet by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi saying that the U.S. and the UK were linking the swap to nuclear talks currently underway in Vienna over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Araqchi said ten prisoners on all sides stand ready to be swapped but the U.S. and the UK did not fulfill their part of the deal.

“We’re in a transition period as a democratic transfer of power is underway in our capital. Vienna talks must thus obviously await our new administration. This is what every democracy demands,” the deputy foreign minister said in a tweet on Saturday.

He added, “US & UK need to understand this and stop linking a humanitarian exchange—ready to be implemented—with the JCPOA. Keeping such an exchange hostage to political aims achieves neither. TEN PRISONERS on all sides may be released TOMORROW if US&UK fulfill their part of deal.”

The U.S. rushed to deny that already a swap deal had been agreed with Iran, accusing it of an “outrageous” effort to deflect blame for the impasse in the Iran nuclear deal talks. “These comments are an outrageous effort to deflect blame for the current impasse,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said,

“We stand ready to return to Vienna to complete work on a mutual return to the JCPOA once Iran has made the necessary decisions,” Price added.

The spokesman also said “there is no agreed deal yet” on the swap.

“We had been engaged in indirect talks on the detainees in the context of the Vienna process, and the delay in restarting that process is not helping,” Price noted. “While it would be more effective to make progress if we were meeting in Vienna, we are also prepared to continue with talks on detainees during this period.”

Khatibzadeh lashed out at the U.S., reiterating that a deal on the prisoners had been agreed with Washington. “‘Outrageous’=the U.S. denying simple fact that ‘there IS an agreed deal on the matter of the detainees.’ Even on how to announce it,” he said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman added, “Humanitarian swap was agreed with US & UK in Vienna-separate from JCPOA- on release of 10 prisoners on all sides. Iran is ready to proceed TODAY.”

“We let the American side go and make their own political decision”

In his Monday presser, Khatibzadeh dismissed the U.S. approach toward the swap deal as “wrong”. He pointed out that this approach will only complicate matters. “This is a wrong approach and makes all paths difficult. If the United States fulfills its obligations today, the release of 10 prisoners can be done with the United States and Britain. We advise them to abandon a human issue and act instead of empty statements,” he said, underlining that “this path can still be left open if they fulfill their commitments.”

Khatibzadeh also touched on the stalled nuclear talks in Vienna, blaming the hiatus in the talks on U.S. refusal to fulfill their commitments. “The Western side had not agreed to its commitments in the sixth round to return [to the JCPOA], and most of what had to be agreed upon was agreed on. A disagreement over some lists and names that the United States blocked in the sixth round still persists. We let the American side go and make their own political decision,” the spokesman noted.

He also said that the delay in the resumption of the Vienna talks was due in part to the transition period in Iran. “In Iran, too, with regard to elections and the peaceful and civil transfer of power, a number of issues had to be discussed and the issues were raised in the Implementation Committee,” Khatibzadeh said, referring to a newly-established committee tasked with overseeing the outcome of the Vienna talks.

“The Foreign Ministry, as a sovereign body, transmits the orders of the government and takes action to implement them. There are no major changes in the continuation of what was done in the twelfth government, and work will continue in the thirteenth government, and it is natural for the Foreign Ministry to act within the framework of government orders,” he continued.

Khatibzadeh stated that the resumption of the nuclear deal talks in Vienna hinged on the inauguration of the new government in Iran.

“Negotiations in six rounds in Vienna proceeded with vigor and seriousness. Religious democracy is running Iran. These talks were delayed due to non-implementation by the United States, and then elections were held in Iran. It is natural to allow the government to be established and move forward because of the requirements of democracy,” Khatibzadeh explained.

He stressed, however, that high-stakes policies are determined by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and supreme bodies and that the government is the executor of these policies.

“The macro-policies of the establishment are the ones set by the Supreme Leader and the higher institutions, the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs implement the decisions. This will continue in the normal way. It is important that the interests of the people and the supreme decisions of the establishment be implemented exactly,” Khatibzadeh noted.

He asserted, “The moment the United States returns to its obligations under Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA, and we’ve done with verification, naturally, the Islamic Republic of Iran will have a full resumption of its obligations. We have to wait for the formation of the new government.”

Since April, diplomats from the remaining parties to the JCPOA and the U.S. have held six rounds of talks in a bid to revive the deal. They made significant progress but failed to get Iran and the U.S. back to full compliance with the nuclear deal.

After the sixth round, Iran and the U.S. called on each other to make tough decisions to break the deadlock over the deal.

Ever since the end of the sixth round of nuclear talks in Vienna on June 20, the U.S. and its European allies, namely France, Germany and the UK – collectively known as the E3 – have been urging Iran to make “tough decisions” to revive the JCPOA, as if it was Iran that pulled out of the deal in the first place.

Iran responded by saying that if a party is to make tough decisions it is the United States and its European allies, not Iran. Because Iran had already made tough decisions after the U.S. unilateral decision to withdraw from the JCPOA in May 2018.

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Rabiei also said that negotiations between Iran and the United States are underway on exchanging prisoners.

“Even after the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, we believed firmly in dialogue and constructive interaction that thwarted ill-wishers’ plot and this led to our refusal to withdraw from the deal,” he noted.

Rabiei noted that it was Iran that prevented the killing of the JCPOA by standing against the great lawbreaker (the U.S.), and by combining unparalleled resistance on the one hand and pursuing lively and dynamic diplomacy on the other.

Since April, the remaining parties to the JCPOA along with the U.S. have held six rounds of talks to revive the nuclear pact. The U.S. is participating in the talks indirectly as Iran has refused direct talks with the American side until the U.S. rejoins the deal and fulfills its obligations.

The government spokesman said the U.S. had no choice but to return to the negotiating table.

The government spokesman went to say that “some European countries while considering Iran’s actions as violating the JCPOA obligations, have never done anything with regard to implementing commitments.”

Iran has been reducing its commitments to the JCPOA since May 2019, one year after former U.S. president Donald Trump quit the nuclear agreement and slapped the harshest sanctions within his “maximum pressure” policy against Iran. Iran decided to gradually remove limits on its nuclear program as the European parties to the deal failed to compensate Iran for the sanctions.

Iran’s nuclear steps are based on paragraph 36 of the JCPOA which has “provided a mechanism to resolve disputes and allows one side, under certain circumstances, to stop complying with the deal if the other side is out of compliance.”

Rabiei also said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price’s remarks toward the JCPOA are unacceptable.

Price had said the U.S. is concerned about Iran’s nuclear steps.

Rabiei said the current situation is due to Washington’s illegal and unilateral actions and approaches.

“Iran has humanitarian intentions toward prisoner swap”

Reacting to remarks by the U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley with regard to negotiations on releasing American prisoners in Iran, he said that Iran has humanitarian intentions in mind.

“Thanks to its humanitarian intentions, Iran is ready to swap all political prisoners in return for the release of all Iranian prisoners held at the request of the United States. We even announced the readiness during the previous U.S. administration, but it was the U.S. administration that refused to sit at the negotiating table, insisting on taking the Iranians hostage, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had proposed swapping all Iranian and American prisoners, and Joe Biden’s administration has been considering this issue,” he elaborated.

“Iran prevents illegal trespassing of immigrants”

Commenting on the Taliban presence near Iran’s eastern borders and Iran’s security measures, he said since the beginning of new changes in Afghanistan various bodies related to the Iranian Ministry of Interior have been continuously monitoring the situation.

He confirmed that the Taliban have taken control of the Islam Qala and Abu Nasr Farahi customs near the border with Iran. However, the spokesman said, Milak customs is still active and trades between Iran and Afghanistan are underway.

He also said Iran’s plan is to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from Afghanistan.

“Necessary measures have been taken to reinforce the border, surveillance and security forces on the border with Afghanistan,” the spokesman noted.

“MEK gathering an opportunity to identify hypocrites”

On the virtual meeting of the MKO, aka MEK, he said the gathering is an opportunity to identify hypocritical American politicians who do not pay the slightest attention to the principles and history of terrorism and human rights violations in other countries.

“We never expected those who in recent years supported sanctions, war, and terror against the Iranians, which they called the ‘maximum pressure’ policy, to separate themselves from Mojahedin-e- Khalq terrorists,” he added.

“Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful”

In response to a question regarding concerns expressed by Western countries and Russia over 20% uranium enrichment by Iran and its plan to build uranium silicide fuel pellet, he said all these measures are taken based on civilian uses of nuclear energy. He added Iran had notified the International Atomic Energy Agency of its decision to build fuel pellet.

“The fuel of research reactors and their power is constantly witnessing a qualitative change with the use of new technologies. The %20 uranium metal fuel, compared to the usual %20 fuel, improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the Tehran Research Reactor; in such a way that we can increase the quantity of radiopharmaceuticals, and in time the production process becomes faster. In addition, we can produce new industrial radioisotopes that cannot be produced in the current situation,” he elaborated.

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The comments came against the backdrop of speculations over a potential exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States amid nuclear deal talks in Vienna.

Earlier on Sunday, the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen news television reported that the U.S. agreed to release four Iranian nationals accused of bypassing sanctions and unblock $7 billion of Iranian assets in the U.S in exchange for Iran releasing four American citizens detained in Iran on charges of conducting espionage for the U.S.

The Biden administration wanted to avoid paying any sums of frozen Iranian money during the negotiations but the Iranian side insisted on the necessity of releasing part of the Iranian funds, according to Al Mayadeen.

Al Mayadeen also reported that similar security negotiations between the Iranian and British sides were underway with the British side discussing with Iran the release of 400 million pounds of frozen Iranian funds in the UK.

But Mikhail Ulyanov, who serves as the Russian envoy to the nuclear deal talks, said the issue of detainees was not on the table in the Vienna talks.

“American or Iranian detainees are not a part of the Vienna talks,” Ulyanov said on Twitter.

He was commenting on a commentary by a former American official who anticipated “some kind of unacknowledged deal” to pay Iran for the release of American prisoners alongside the return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iranian and American officials both denied the reports of a prisoner swap. Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said the news of the swap is not confirmed by Iran. But at the same time, he underlined a comprehensive exchange of prisoners between the two countries.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly presented the issue of the exchange of prisoners, but the American side has rejected it under baseless excuses, according to Takht Ravanchi.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, also repudiated the Al Mayadeen report, saying while the issue of prisoners has always been on Iran’s agenda, the Sunday evening report by Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news network is untrue.

Khatibzadeh said the issue of prisoners is a humanitarian one and has not been pursued through nuclear talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Khatibzadeh said, “The issue of prisoners has been a humanitarian issue which has always been on the agenda of the Islamic Republic of Iran and has been pursued through other conversations and [diplomatic] channels separately from the JCPOA or related issues.”

Khatibzadeh also denied reports that Tehran and London had been in talks over the release of Nazanin Zaghari, an Iranian-British national who was found guilty of propaganda activities against the Iranian government last month and sentenced to one year in prison, according to Press TV.

“There are no legal talks between us and Britain on this. The Judiciary must comment on the case,” the spokesman said, adding, “What is being discussed is about issues related to relations between the two countries. Of course, the British government has presented its views to us on various issues, and we have given back very clear answers.”

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price also denied the report on Sunday. “As we have said, we always raise the cases of Americans detained or missing in Iran. We will not stop until we are able to reunite them with their families,” he said.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain similarly said the report was untrue, adding there was no agreement to release the four Americans.
“We’re working very hard to get them released,” Klain told CBS’s Face the Nation. “We raise this with Iran and our interlocutors all the time, but so far there’s no agreement.”

Diplomats from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries have been in Vienna since April to negotiate possible U.S. return to the JCPOA as well as the lifting of the U.S. sanctions on Tehran. So far, at least three rounds of talks have been held between the two sides, with the European signatories to the JCPOA shuttling between Iranian and American negotiating teams, who are conducting talks from separate hotels.

Meanwhile, three expert working groups have been established to study a range of issues such as sanctions lifting, reversal of Iran’s nuclear measures, and practical arrangements needed by the U.S. to lift the sanctions. Almost all sides have said the talks are making progress, though so far there has been no immediate diplomatic breakthrough.

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According to Al Mayadeen News Network, the Biden administration wanted to avoid paying any sums of frozen Iranian money during the negotiations. Yet, the Iranian side insisted on the necessity of releasing part of the Iranian funds.

The report says that the four Iranians detained in the United States were helping to circumvent the sanctions.

Analysts say that the Biden administration needed to show the U.S. Congress that he is making progress in the nuclear deal. Hence, they were convinced to unfreeze $7b in cash to bring back four American spies.

Based on the reports received from Vienna, the United States, with the brokering of the European Union, had tried to put pressure on Iran to release the spies mentioned above without giving any points to Iran to avoid another Jason Rezaeian fiasco.

In the Jason Rezaeian case, Iran managed to force its will on the Obama administration when the United States paid $1.7 billion in exchange for Jason Rezaeian and three other spies. Rezaeian was charged with espionage and “collaborating with hostile governments.”

Al Mayadeen also reported that similar security negotiations between the Iranian and British sides, with the British side agreeing to unfreeze 400 million pounds of frozen Iranian funds in exchange.

The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) quoted an informed source saying that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be released in return for London unfreezing 400 million pounds.

It is also said that the deal is arranged based on an “America first” principle, that is, the United States should pay Iran first, in cash, and then prepare to greet its spies with a red carpet.

It seems that the exchange of prisoners has given the Iranian delegate an upper hand in the Vienna negotiations, demanding more from the P4+1 and the U.S.

Speculations circling around the names of the four spies to be Siamak Namazi, Bagher Namazi, Emad Edward Sharghi, and Morad Tahbaz are the four spies Iran is going to return in exchange for $7b.

However, the Islamic Republic should be wary, as the United States has time and again proven that it is no reliable side to negotiate with.

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He described the recently established Judiciary joint commission between Iran and Turkey as a positive step in this regard.

The joint commission is aimed at deciding over the conditions of prisoner swaps between the two countries.

Embarking on the mission, the two countries exchanged three convicts on in late July.

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