Iran’s foreign ministry says it has sent a list of names it is demanding in a prisoner swap Tehran is proposing with the United States and other Western nations.
Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi says Monday the Islamic Republic has relayed the Iranian detainees that “should be released.”
Mousavi didn’t detail the names but said Iran has made efforts to release Iranian nationals who were detained over what they say are “baseless” accusations of bypassing unilateral American sanctions on Iran. Iran holds several Western dual nationals.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says he hopes to hear “good news soon” about the release of Iranian scientist professor Masoud Soleimani.
U.S. federal authorities arrested Soleimani last year charges that he had violated trade sanctions by trying to have biological material brought to Iran.
Cover photo: Babak Namazi, the brother of a prisoner in Iran Siamak Namazi, and Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detained Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, in a press conference in New York, on September 26, 2019.
