Iran rules out release of American prisoners as precondition for nuclear talks

Iran is ruling out releasing American prisoners as a precondition for nuclear talks as Tehran and other countries are engaged in an eighth round of negotiations in Vienna.

During a weekly press conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said “Iran has never accepted any preconditions” and that “the U.S. official’s comments on the release of U.S. prisoners in Iran is for domestic use,” according to Reuters.

The United States’ lead negotiators told the news wire on Sunday that the likelihood of Washington entering into a deal with Tehran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was low unless Iran agrees to release four U.S. citizens who are believed to be being held hostage.

Iran and other countries started an eighth round of nuclear talks last month to reinstate the 2015 deal. Then-President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018, opting to instead implement sanctions against Tehran.

Since then, Iran has largely stopped abiding by the terms of the deal.

President Biden is now looking to reenter the agreement, which lifted sanctions off of Iran in exchange for the country decreasing most of its nuclear program.

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Monday that preconditions voiced by Robert Malley, U.S. special envoy for Iran, would reduce the pace of the Vienna talks, according to Reuters.

Tehran has said it is prepared to conduct a prisoner exchange with the U.S., but it is objecting to tying the swap to the nuclear talks.

Iran has held that it does not detain individuals for political purposes, but the country has claimed that held dual nationals and foreigners are guilty of espionage, according to Reuters. The country has also said it is unjust for the U.S. to detain Iranians for breaching sanctions.

“Iranians held in U.S. prisons are in jail for fabricated reasons, but American nationals have been convicted in Iran,” Khatibzadeh said, according to Reuters.

He said Iran and the U.S. can enter into “a lasting agreement on both separate paths” — meaning the Vienna talks and the prisoner exchange — “if the other party has the will.”

A prisoner swap between the two countries would not be a new feat: Tehran and Washington participated in exchanges in June 2020 and December 2018, according to Reuters.