Iran dismisses prisoner swap with US

After an Iranian national confirmed that he has been abducted by the US, Tehran moves to reject the possibility of his swap with the three detained American hikers.

“The three US citizens had trespassed Iran’s border illegally. It is not right to make discussions about a swap between Iranian scholar Shahram Amiri, who went missing last year while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, and the three US hikers,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday.

He further added that footage screened by Iranian television on Monday night confirmed that the nuclear scientist was kidnapped by US and Saudi intelligence services.

“The US moves are inhumane and run counter to international regulations. We will definitely pursue Amiri’s case through legal and political channels,” Mehmanparast explained.

Shahram Amiri, a researcher at Iran’s Malek Ashtar University, said in a message on Monday that he was kidnapped by US agents en route to Mecca in June 2009.

He stated that his abduction was intended to exert political pressure on the Iranian government and called on the international community to help him gain his freedom.

Mehmanparast went on to say that investigations into the case of the US detainees are underway and added that the Americans are allowed consular access through the Swiss embassy in Tehran.

“They are kept in the best situation and can meet their families,” the spokesman stated.

Sarah Emily Shourd, 31, Shane Michael Bauer and Joshua Felix Fattal, both 27, were arrested on Iranian soil after crossing the border from northern Iraq in July 2009.

They were later charged with espionage after Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi found “compelling evidence” that the three Americans had actually been cooperating with US intelligence services.