Tehran (IP) - Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei in his weekly press conference addressed various issues raised by reporters, among then the recent prisoner swap arrangement. He said if the US lifts its sanctions, the 5+1 Group can hold talks with Iran.

Iran PressIran news: Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei in his weekly press conference addressed issues raised by journalists and reporters.

National Information Network

Rabiei said: "The government has no plan to cut off Iranians access to the Internet. The Internet will be made available to the public through the National Information Network. The United States seeks to impose limitations and sanctions on the National Information Network, but we must do something that the US cannot impose on Iran. The government is seeking freedom of access to the Internet, but the United States is trying to project itself as a supporter of the Internet and freedom of information exchange, but we know that this is simply not true.

Exchange of prisoners, a model for other subjects

Iran's government spokesman added: "A prisoner exchange proposal was made one year ago by Iran at a UN General Assembly meeting, which the US government roundly rejected at the time. However, we did not wait and tried to release Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani. On the other hand, a former US official conveyed a humanitarian message to Iran. The message was that the US was ready to exchange prisoners. We wanted the release of all the prisoners, but the US did not, we agreed that Iranian scientist Suleimani, a stem cell researcher who had been imprisoned in the United States for one year, should be exchanged with a US citizen."

Related news:

Iranian scientist, released from US detention, back home

Released Iranian scientist, heads home

Rabiei stated: "We are pleased that the United States made the right decision with the release of an innocent Iranian, and we appreciate the goodwill of the Swiss government in this regard. We are ready to return all Iranian prisoners, however, I emphasize that this exchange has not been negotiated, and the extension of these talks will depend on other issues in the United States".

"If the US lifts all sanctions, we will resume the P5 + 1 meeting as soon as possible", spokesman underscored.

Roots of recent riots must be investigated thoroughly

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in his weekly presser: "The roots of the recent riots in Iran must be investigated thoroughly."

"I want to emphasize to the victims of the recent riots that we are all with each other in sorrow and joy, and this has been and will be the secret of Iran's longevity throughout history," he underscored.

"We must be united and move forward. Let us not forget that we are in a state of outrageous sanctions that have affected our economy", Rabiei highlighted.

The spokesman went on to say: "In recent days we have seen that the supporters of the sanctions express happiness, but on the other hand, we have also witnessed the awakening human conscience in the US has criticized the US government and said that if the United States had been abiding by Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and not sanctioned Iran, such a nation would not be under pressure. The Iranian people see these reactions and those who sympathize."

"The government believes that recent events should be fundamentally rooted. We rely on the social capital of all Iranians. For this reason, a committee was organized in the government and a report was presented to the leadership and the leadership gave instructions to the committee," he said.

"Another issue is the parliamentary elections. The future of the country is going through the elections and the elections are the honor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The election is the only way to save the country from the difficult conditions, we have to make it possible for everyone to compete in the election", Rabiei concluded.

Rabiei also referred to the recent riots in different parts of the country, adding that "Recent riots show that the number of government officers' injuries is much higher than the number of ordinary people. Separating these people will definitely be time-consuming. We will honestly give the right information when this process ends."

207/211/219

Read More:

Government spokesman warns US not to interfere in Iran's internal affairs

Architect of "maximum" sanctions sheds crocodile tears for Iranians

People living condition; our priority in the economic war: Gov't Spox