The United States will likely not reach a deal with Iran to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal if Tehran does not release four U.S. citizens Washington alleges the Iranian government is holding hostage, negotiator Robert Malley said Sunday.
Malley, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, reiterated the position that the four “hostages” is a separate issue from the nuclear negotiations, but came close to saying their release would be a condition for a nuclear deal.
“They are [asuntos] separate and we’re engaged in both, but it’s very hard for us to imagine returning to the nuclear deal while four innocent Americans are being held hostage in Iran,” Malley expressed to Reuters in an interview.
He added that while indirect talks are taking place with Iran on the nuclear issue, indirect talks are also underway to secure the release of what he described as “our hostages.”
In recent years, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has arrested dozens of people with dual Iranian and foreign citizenship, mostly on espionage or security-related charges.
Human rights groups have accused Iran of taking prisoners to seek diplomatic advantage, while Western powers have for years demanded that Tehran release its citizens, whom they regard as political prisoners.
Tehran denies that it imprisons people for political reasons.
The four U.S. citizens are businessman Siamak Namazi, 50, and his father Baquer, 85, who were convicted of “collaboration with a hostile government”; environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 66, who is also British; and businessman Emad Shargi, 57.
Indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran to return both countries to the 2015 nuclear deal are for their eighth round in Vienna. Iran refuses to talk directly with U.S. officials, meaning others must carry messages between the parties.
To a question about whether Iran and the United States could negotiate directly, Malley said, “We haven’t heard fairy about it, but we would accept it.”
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