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Tehran and Washington have materialized this Saturday an understanding after months of mutual hostilities . Iran has handed over Princeton University researcher Xiyue Wang, arrested more than three years ago and sentenced to a decade of prison for espionage , in exchange for professor and biomedical researcher Massoud Soleimani, detained more than a year ago when landing in the US and accused of violating the sanctions regime .
The exchange of prisoners has taken place at the airport in the Swiss city of Zurich. Since the United States and Iran have not had bilateral diplomatic relations since 1980, Switzerland represents US interests in Tehran. Both President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif have thanked the Swiss country for its contribution to this rare approach , which can open the door, Western officials believe, to diplomatic warming.
According to Princeton University, Wang, 38, worked on his doctoral thesis, which included an investigation into the Qayar dynasty, which ruled in Iran between the 18th and 20th centuries. In order to improve his Persian, the American citizen studied at a language institute between January and March 2016. Although the Iranian authorities had approved their plans in the country, the academic ended up in a cell in the prison section of the Evin who mostly welcomes political prisoners.
For its part, the Iranian agency Tasnim explains that Soleimani, 49, had gone to Chicago in October 2018, invited by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to lead a research program on the treatment of patients with heart attack. However, the Iranian ran into the terminal with FBI agents , who arrested him for allegedly violating US sanctions against Iran. To proceed with his release, the charges have been dismissed.
Mohammad Javad Zarif has tweeted a photo of Soleimani showing "happy that Professor Massoud Soleimani and Mr. Xiyue Wang reunite with their families soon." Almost at the same time, Wang's wife has posted on Twitter: "Our family is complete again. Our son Shaofan and I have waited three long years for this day and it is difficult to express in words how excited we are to meet with Xiyue."
This episode is an important milestone but does not end the controversy. Iran has been accused on many occasions by Western governments of carrying out a policy of "hostages" , held in their stay in the country and routinely convicted of espionage charges, to pressure countries of origin from their interests Inmates The academic world, in particular, has been one of those affected in recent times. Tehran denounces that the US does the same.
After the release of Xiyue, the media estimate that there are three more US citizens behind bars in Iran, as well as a fifth missing for twelve years. Although Zarif has not specified how many Iranians remain in the hands of the US authorities , it is estimated that there are at least a dozen. In addition, the presence has been spread among Iranian bars of at least one Iranian Brit, an Iranian Franco scholar and a French colleague.
On April 24, the same head of Iranian diplomacy Javad Zarif announced his willingness to negotiate with the US in order to conduct prisoner exchanges such as the one that happened. "I put this offer on the table publicly now, let's exchange them, all these people who are in prison within the United States," said the minister. " We believe their charges are false . The United States believes the charges against these people in Iran are false." "Well, let's not argue; let's exchange."
But there was no response from the White House, which insisted with its strategy of "total pressure" through harmful sanctions for the population, and Iran and the US engaged in one of the hottest summers that are remembered in years. A series of attacks of murky origin and arrests of oil tankers in waters of the Persian Gulf and near Gibraltar, together with the demolition of drones in the airspace of southern Iran, feared a warlike crash of catastrophic consequences.
The waters have not yet returned to their channel and, in fact, the US has recently expressed suspicions that Iran has transferred weapons to its related militias in Iraq, preparing them to respond in case of escalation. According to the international press, Washington also intends to send more troops to the Middle East. Although Iranian President Rohani said this week he is willing to sit face to face with Trump immediately if he lifts the sanctions. From the dialogue to the coup there is a sigh.
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