Iran's Zarif offers prisoner swap for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Iran's foreign minister says the jailed Brit could be swapped for another prisoner- but later backtracks on his comments, amid talk about the US sanctions.
Zarif suggested possible cooperation with the United States to bring stability to Iraq and Afghanistan, a priority for both Tehran and Washington.
He also said he was willing to swap British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been detained in Iran since 2016, for an Iranian woman detained in Australia for the past three years on a U.S. extradition request.
"I feel sorry for them, and I have done my best to help," Zarif said of Zaghari-Ratcliffe. "But nobody talks about this lady in Australia who gave birth to a child in prison. ... I put this offering on the table publicly now - exchange them."
Later, in an interview with Reuters, Zarif backed off from a possible prisoner swap for the two women saying the Zaghari-Ratcliffe case was a separate issue, which he was discussing with the British government.
"The offer that I made was people who have been in prison either in the United States or elsewhere in the world on American request," he said, "But the Iranian-British woman is a separate case."
Zarif told Reuters he was proposing "a serious dialogue" with the United States on a possible prisoner swap.
At the Asia Society, Zarif said Iran proposed a possible prisoner swap deal to the U.S. administration six months ago, but had not yet had a response from Washington.
"All these people that are in prison inside the United States, on extradition requests from the United States, we believe their charges are phony. The United States believes the charges against these people in Iran are phony. Let's not discuss that," he said.
"Let's have an exchange. I'm ready to do it and I have authority to do it," Zarif said.
Published: by Radio NewsHub