Nasser Kanaani stressed that Tehran demands the “immediate and unconditional” release of the prisoners, while urging the administration of US President Joe Biden to take real steps instead of “political drama.”
US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on Tuesday drew attention to the case of Siamak Namazi, a dual Iranian-American citizen, and his father, Baqer Namazi, who have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since October 2015.
The minister explained that the two men are being held illegally by the authorities, and confirmed this Washington is determined to release him and all US citizens illegally detained in the Shiite country.
According to Tehran, it is More than a dozen Iranian or Iranian-American dual nationals are being held in the United States, and the Iranian leadership wants to negotiate their release in Washington.
Negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are now taking place in Vienna. The talks ended last Monday with a compromise project put forward by the European Union, and Tehran announced on Tuesday that it had responded in writing to the offer, known as the final roadmap.
Negotiations on reviving the agreement began in April last year. Under the 2015 deal, Iran committed to limiting its nuclear activities, in return for the gradual lifting of most sanctions imposed on it. In 2018, then US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and reimposed sanctions that choked Iran’s economy. In response, Iran gradually canceled its commitments and increased, among other things, uranium enrichment.
Cover photo: Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
