03:13Iran: Tehran 'ready' for further exchange of prisoners, says FM Zarif
Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran was 'ready' for further prisoner exchanges, as he was participating via videolink to the Rome-based Mediterranean Dialogues conference, on Thursday.
Referencing the recent release of Australian-British academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert from jail in an exchange for three Iranian citizens, Zarif stressed his country was open to more prisoner swaps.
"We can do it tomorrow, we can even do it today," he said.
Zarif also accused European states, the United States and African states of holding Iranian prisoners illegally: "There are Iranian prisoners in Europe, illegally. There are Iranian prisoners in the United States, illegally. There are Iranian prisoners in Africa who have been ordered by the court to be released but because of pressure from the United States, they have been, they continue to be in detention."
In regards to concerns surrounding the recently passed legislation that will see Iranian President Hassan Rouhani put an end to international nuclear inspections, Zarif explained that the purpose of the bill was not definitive but subject to negotiation pending the annulment of economic sanctions on Iran: "It's not irreversible. The title of the legislation is to restore Iranian rights. And to make sure that sanctions are removed."
Elaborating further, Zarif explained that Iran was willing to return to the conditions of the JCPOA if the other parties were willing to comply with the original agreement.
"The remedy is very easy and the remedy is foreseen in the JCPOA. Go back to full compliance, normalise Iran's economic relations with the rest of the world, stop making new conditions, stop making outrageous demands, and as soon as you do that, as soon as you come back to the letter of JCPOA, let alone its spirit, come back to the letter of JCPOA and we will immediately do that," he stated.
03:13Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran was 'ready' for further prisoner exchanges, as he was participating via videolink to the Rome-based Mediterranean Dialogues conference, on Thursday.
Referencing the recent release of Australian-British academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert from jail in an exchange for three Iranian citizens, Zarif stressed his country was open to more prisoner swaps.
"We can do it tomorrow, we can even do it today," he said.
Zarif also accused European states, the United States and African states of holding Iranian prisoners illegally: "There are Iranian prisoners in Europe, illegally. There are Iranian prisoners in the United States, illegally. There are Iranian prisoners in Africa who have been ordered by the court to be released but because of pressure from the United States, they have been, they continue to be in detention."
In regards to concerns surrounding the recently passed legislation that will see Iranian President Hassan Rouhani put an end to international nuclear inspections, Zarif explained that the purpose of the bill was not definitive but subject to negotiation pending the annulment of economic sanctions on Iran: "It's not irreversible. The title of the legislation is to restore Iranian rights. And to make sure that sanctions are removed."
Elaborating further, Zarif explained that Iran was willing to return to the conditions of the JCPOA if the other parties were willing to comply with the original agreement.
"The remedy is very easy and the remedy is foreseen in the JCPOA. Go back to full compliance, normalise Iran's economic relations with the rest of the world, stop making new conditions, stop making outrageous demands, and as soon as you do that, as soon as you come back to the letter of JCPOA, let alone its spirit, come back to the letter of JCPOA and we will immediately do that," he stated.