Iran says scientist jailed by US to be released ‘in days’

The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that Iranian scientist Sirous Asgari who is in US custody will return to Iran “in days”, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.

ISNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying that Asgari’s case “has been closed in America and he will probably return to the country in the next two or three days. That is, if no issues or obstacles come up.”

In November, a US court acquitted Asgari of stealing trade secrets charges, however he was not released because of claims he broke immigration laws.

In March, Asgari told the Guardian that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency was keeping him in a detention centre in Louisiana without basic sanitation and refused to let him return to Iran despite his acquittal.

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The Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed last month that Asgari had caught the novel coronavirus during his incarceration.

Iran, which is said to be holding at least five Americans has recently called for a comprehensive exchange of prisoners with the United States, which is said to be holding 15 Iranians.