The U.S. administration has reiterated that it will not accept a partial agreement with Iran concerning the issue of detainees and dual nationals. During a meeting with former American prisoners in Iran and families of current detainees, Robert Malley, the U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, stated that the United States seeks the release of all American detainees through negotiations with Iranian authorities and will not accept the release of some only, as occurred during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
According to a report by CBC News on Saturday, he expressed that he does not wish to repeat the 2016 prisoner exchange deal when a group of Americans were released without securing the release of Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi, who remains imprisoned in Tehran. He emphasized that the Biden administration insists on the release of all Americans unjustly imprisoned in Iran and will not accept a "partial deal" during negotiations.
Malley noted to a group of former prisoners and families of foreign detainees currently behind bars in Iran, "I worked on this issue during the Obama administration when we secured the release of some of our wrongfully detained citizens, but not all of them." He described the events of 2016 as a "very painful phase" and expressed understanding for the feelings of Namazi's relatives, who remain imprisoned, along with his father, Baquer, who was also detained in 2016 and is still banned from leaving the country.
He affirmed that this incident still weighs heavily on him, adding, "We must complete the work and finalize the agreement for the release of all prisoners." He concluded by stressing that this issue is a priority for the President of the United States. The U.S. administration has previously made it clear that this issue is not linked to nuclear negotiations, which began in early April in Vienna, having gone through six rounds without reaching an agreement to revive the nuclear deal established in 2015 between Iran and Western nations, from which Washington withdrew in 2018, reinstating hundreds of sanctions on Tehran.
