March 17, 2023
Iran’s foreign minister announced March 12 that a prisoner swap with the US was almost ready. The US immediately dismissed his comments as a “cruel lie.”
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has made similar comments in the past about possible deals with the US on prisoners, frozen assets abroad and other issues that never came to fruition. Some of his remarks have appeared aimed at shoring up domestic support amid the mass protests challenging Iran’s theocracy and supporting the country’s troubled currency, as well as conveying the idea that he is an active and successful foreign minister.
Abdollahian may also have been prompted to make the latest claim of personal success because he played no role in the recent agreement to resume diplomatic relations with China. That was handled entirely by Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who may have been assigned that task because he is a fluent Arabic speaker.
In an interview March 12 with Iranian state television, Amir-Abdollahian claimed Iran had “reached an agreement in recent days regarding the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States.”
He said, “If everything goes well on the Americans’ side, I think we will see the exchange of prisoners in the short term.” He alleged a document between Iran and the US laying out the exchange had been “indirectly signed and approved” in March of last year.
But US State Department spokesperson Ned Price called the comments “another especially cruel lie that only adds to the suffering of their families.”
A separate statement from the White House National Security Council also called Abdollahian’s remarks “false.”
“Unfortunately, Iranian officials will not hesitate to make things up, and the latest cruel claim will cause more heartache for the families of Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz,” the council said, naming three Americans held by Tehran on espionage charges.
Abdollahian said, “The ground for its implementation has been prepared now, and, from our point of view, everything is ready while the US is currently working on the final technical coordination.”
He also said an exchange of messages between the two sides is underway on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). That was denied just a few days earlier by Price, who also labeled those Iranian claims as “lies.”