Iran Signals Openness to Prisoner Swap With U.S. as Nuclear Deal Talks Continue in Austria

Iran on Tuesday expressed "readiness" for a possible exchange of prisoners with the U.S. amid nuclear deal talks in Vienna, Austria.

"The idea of a swap of prisoners has always been on the agenda" and they should be released because of "humane concerns," Iran Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei said.

He did not offer details on how many Iranians are held in the U.S. but said the number is larger than that of American prisoners in Iran.

Iran has said it was open to prisoner swaps with the U.S. in the past, a move that is seen as a rare diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington, according to the Associated Press.

In 2019, Iran freed Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American scholar from Princeton who was held for three years on widely criticized espionage charges. At the time, Tehran said American authorities were holding about 20 Iranian nationals in jail.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

On Tuesday, Rabiei said the Iranian judiciary has also voiced "readiness" for a swap. His remarks marked the second statement by Iranian officials on a possible prisoner release in less than two weeks.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh last week made comments suggesting Tehran hopes to swing a major prisoner swap as part of ongoing negotiations in Vienna. A similar swap accompanied the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Iranian media have in recent days identified seven Iranians in U.S. custody by name while the U.S. regularly asks Iran to release American prisoners, including Siamak and Baquer Namazi, who are serving 10-year prison sentences on spying charges.

Siamak Namazi, a 46-year-old businessman who promoted closer ties between Iran and the West, was arrested in October 2015. His 81-year-old father, Baquer, a former UNICEF representative who served as governor of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province under the U.S.-backed shah, was arrested in February 2016, apparently drawn to Iran over fears about his incarcerated son.

Also among Americans held in Iran is environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with U.S. and British citizenship also initially sentenced to 10 years in prison.

There are other Western nationals in Iranian custody, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who, after serving a five-year prison sentence on spying charges, has been sentenced to a sixth year in prison or spreading "propaganda against the system" for participating in a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in London in 2009.

Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, meaning those detained cannot receive consular assistance. The two Namazis, like other dual nationals, faced secret charges in closed-door hearings in Iran's Revolutionary Court, which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government.

As nuclear talks are about to get underway Tuesday in Vienna following a brief break, Tehran has been insisting that the U.S. lift all sanctions imposed under then-President Donald Trump after he pulled America out of the nuclear deal, including those not related to its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Washington has said Iran needs to comply with all restrictions imposed under the deal. In response to Trump's withdrawal, Iran has gradually violated the terms of the accord, including limits on uranium enrichment.

Washington has not been at the table for the Vienna talks, but an American delegation is in the Austrian capital and representatives of the other powers have been shuttling between it and the Iranian delegation.