Report: Iran, US holding secret prisoner swap talks

Iran and the US have been conducting secret negotiations to exchange a US Navy veteran held by the Iranian authorities in exchange for an Iranian-American doctor held by the US, The New York Times has reported.

The newspaper quoted deputy director of the Iranian interests section at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, Abolfazi Mehrabadi, as stating that the talks aim to exchange the US Navy veteran, Michael R. White, 48, who has been held in Iran for nearly two years, with an unidentified Iranian-American doctor.

The senior Iranian official explained that: “The talks have not reached a conclusion yet.”

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Meanwhile, a spokesman for the US Navy veteran’s family, Jonathan Franks, told the paper that: “He also had been told negotiations were underway between the two sides.”

The paper described the negotiations as “extraordinary” given the growing tensions and mutual threats to use military force between the two countries.

Iran holds at least four US citizens; three of them of Iranian descent, while Iran confirmed the US holds at least 24 Iranians.