Washington rejects Iran's 'cruel' suggestion of deal on US detainees

The US rejected an Iranian effort to separate the fate of four Americans held in Iran from talks on a nuclear deal, in the latest impasse in negotiations on a possible US return to the agreement abandoned by former President Donald Trump. 

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's lead negotiator, demanded on Saturday that the US and the UK "stop linking a humanitarian exchange" with the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and expressed hope of a prisoner release if the US and the UK "fulfil their part of the deal".

"Keeping such an exchange hostage to political alms achieves neither," he said, adding that 10 prisoners on all sides could be released if all parties do their part.

State Department spokesman Ned Price in Washington said in a statement that "Araghchi speaks of us taking an agreement hostage when it is his government that has been unjustly detaining four innocent Americans for years", the State Department spokesman said.

Price called Aragchi’s reference to the possible imminent prisoner release as "just another cruel effort to raise the hopes of their families" and called Iran's position an "outrageous effort to deflect blame".

He said there's no deal on the detainees and called on Iran to release them immediately.

"The release of our unjustly detained citizens is a top priority for us, and we remain interested in seeing to that as soon as possible," Price said.

The State Department also slammed as "outrageous" comments made by Iran’s deputy foreign minister, who alleged the US and Britain were holding the swap "hostage" to the negotiations over salvaging the 2015 deal.

"Outrageous"=the US denying simple fact that "there IS an agreed deal on the matter of the detainees." Even on how to announce it.

Humanitarian swap was agreed with US & UK in Vienna-separate from JCPOA- on release of 10 prisoners on all sides.

Iran is ready to proceed TODAY.

— Saeed Khatibzadeh (@SKhatibzadeh) July 18, 2021

Aragchi took to Twitter on Sunday to get back at the US, saying that what is outrageous is "the US denying simple fact that ‘there IS an agreed deal on the matter of the detainees'".

Araghchi said the nuclear talks in Vienna could not resume until Iran’s hardline president-elect is inaugurated in early August. The nuclear talks "must thus obviously await our new administration. This is what every democracy demands", Aragchi said.

A sixth round of nuclear talks ended last month without agreement, ahead of the election of Ebrahim Raisi. The US said it is ready to resume talks as soon as Iran is ready but has demanded the continuation of talks on release of American citizens detained in Iran.

The Biden administration has been trying to revive the deal abandoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018 by offering sanctions relief in exchange for Iran returning to full compliance with its obligations.

Since Trump’s withdrawal, Iran has stepped up its violations of the agreement by increasing uranium enrichment and refusing to answer questions from the UN’s atomic watchdog about potential violations of other nuclear commitments.