Iran Press/Iran news: Mohammad Javad Zarif also said he had had his deputy write a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, apparently proposing a prisoner exchange, or raising the issue of Iranians arrested for alleged violations of US sanctions laws.
Zarif’s comments about the limited correspondence between his office and the Donald Trump administration comes after he publicly proposed a prisoner swap yesterday, and said he was authorized to negotiate such an exchange, Al-Monitor reported.
Iran’s Foreign Minister also said he had privately proposed a prisoner swap to the Trump administration six months ago, but had received no response.
Asked by Al-Monitor if he had not received a letter from O’Brien, Zarif acknowledged that he had, but portrayed the letter as one-sided.
“Know what the letter said? It said please release” the detained Americans, Iran’s Foreign Minister told a group of journalists at the Iranian mission to the UN in New York today. “It was not an offer.”
In an exclusive interview with Reuters on Apr. 25, Iran's foreign minister warned about possible plots to spark a conflict between Iran and the US and its dangerous consequences.
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“The trend of thinking in Washington is to expect us to do unilateral actions,” Zarif added.
“The negotiating table is there. We did not leave the negotiating table. The US left the negotiating table,” Iran’s Foreign Minister said.
Regarding several US Democratic presidential candidates saying they would have the United States rejoin the Iran nuclear deal if they won, Zarif said Iran can’t rely on that.
“We cannot rely on what will happen two years down the road. We don’t know what will be the policy of a new administration, Democratic or Republican,” Iran’s Foreign Minister noted.
Zarif also warned that he believed that Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton could undermine Trump’s expressed desire to avoid another expensive intervention in the Middle East.
In the other forum in New York, Zarif said Wednesday during his speech at the Asia Society that it is in his country's national security interest to keep Strait of Hormuz open, but “If the United States takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that, then it should be prepared for the consequences". 101/201/213
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