Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh blasted the US for its denial that there was an agreement on prisoner exchange with Iran.
“Outrageous=the US denying simple fact that there IS an agreed deal on the matter of the detainees. Even on how to announce it," Khatibzadeh tweeted on Sunday.
"Iran had an agreement in place with the US and the UK and was ready to implement it TODAY," he added.
Khatibzadeh's remarks came in reaction to US State Department Spokesman Ned Price for his use of the term "outrageous" to refer to Iran’s Foreign Ministry official statements on nuclear talks and prisoners swap agreement.
Price said Saturday that Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi's statements on ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna were "outrageous" efforts to deflect blame for the current impasse in talks.
In relevant remarks earlier on Saturday, Araqchi blasted the US and UK for linking a humanitarian exchange of prisoners with the talks over the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"The US & UK need to understand this and stop linking a humanitarian exchange—ready to be implemented—with the JCPOA," Araqchi, aslo head of Iran's negotiating team in Vienna talks, tweeted.
"We're in a transition period as a democratic transfer of power is underway in our capital. Vienna talks must thus obviously await our new administration. This is what every democracy demands," he added.
He underlined that keeping such an exchange hostage to political aims achieves neither, and said, "Ten prisoners on all sides may be released tomorrow if the US & the UK fulfill their part of the deal."
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