“Iran sets no precondition for prisoner swap”, FM

On the sidelines of a conference in Tehran entitled "Iran and BRICS" on Tuesday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters Iran views swapping prisoners as a humanitarian action.

The Islamic Republic sets no pre-condition to exchange prisoners, the official underlined.

The messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US through Oman and Qatar for some months, he noted.

We have told the mediators that Iran could exchange prisoners within the agreed framework, he further noted.

There were no direct connections between Iran’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he underscored.

Amir-Abdollahian went on to say that Iran gained the full SCO membership in recent weeks.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the top diplomat said that South Africa has put forward an initiative to prepare the ground for BRICS+ members to gain membership.

Upon the official invitation of the South African President extended to Ebrahim Raeisi, the Iranian President is to take part in the summit of the heads of the BRICS and BRICS+, he said.

He viewed the presence of Raeisi in the BRICS as an important development.

Iran regards the step as a proper opportunity to expand multilateralism, he added.

Touching on his visit to Japan that was made on Sunday, the official said that Japan is interested in following up on removing the sanctions imposed on Iran.
The reason is that the country seeks to further bolster Iran-Japan trade exchanges, he added.

"The Japanese Prime Minister had ideas in this regard and brought them up," Amir-Abdollahian asserted.

The Islamic Republic welcomes any initiatives that help lift the illegal and unilateral sanctions, he pointed out.