Iranian FM asks Switzerland to help release Iranian prisoners in U.S.

TEHRAN, Feb.28 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi asked the Swiss government to take actions to help obtain the release of Iranian nationals who are being detained in the United States. Salehi made the request during a meeting with Didier Burkhalter, the head of Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, in Geneva on Monday, which was held on the sidelines of the 19th session of the Human Rights Council that opened in Geneva on Monday and runs until March 23. Iran and the United States do not have diplomatic relations and the Swiss Embassy in Tehran hosts the U.S. Interests Section in Iran. In the meeting, the Iranian foreign minister delivered a list of Iranian nationals who are being held in U.S. prisons to Burkhalter and asked him to pursue their cases and help restore their rights. Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi commented on the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic under the allegation that it is seeking to produce nuclear weapons, saying that such sanctions will not hinder Iran’s economic progress. Burkhalter stated that the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program should be resolved through diplomatic channels and expressed hope that Tehran’s negotiations with the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany), which is expected to be held in the near future, would be successful.