Iran ready for further prisoner swaps; seeks U.S. nuclear move - foreign minister

[December 03, 2020]    ROME (Reuters) - Iran is ready to engage in further prisoner swaps after last week exchanging a jailed British-Australian academic with three Iranians detained abroad, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon August 14, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

"We can always engage in that, it is in the interests of everybody," Zarif told an Italian diplomatic conference speaking via video-link. "Iran is ready to reciprocate. We can do it tomorrow. We can also do it today."

Zarif also urged the United States to show good will by returning to a 2015 nuclear deal that President Donald Trump walked out of. He said that if the U.S. honoured its original commitments, Tehran would show full compliance with the pact.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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