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US Calls on Iran to Discuss Any Prisoner Swap Via Official Channels

Michael Lipin

   A senior U.S. official has called on Iran to use an official channel to
   discuss its proposal to exchange several Americans held in Iranian
   prisons for a number of Iranians detained in the United States.

   In a Monday interview with VOA sister network Alhurra, U.S. Special
   Representative for Iran Brian Hook said he would not comment publicly
   on prisoner swap proposals raised by several Iranian officials in
   remarks to the media this year.

   In the latest such case, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas
   Mousavi told an Oct. 21 press briefing that Tehran had given the U.S. a
   list of detained Iranians whom it wants to be freed and was ready to do
   a trade. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif previously
   raised the issue on an April visit to New York, telling an Asia Society
   forum that he initially had offered the Trump administration a prisoner
   swap in October 2018 but received no response from Washington.

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