US, Iran swap prisoners in rare act of cooperation
 

DUBAI: The United States and Iran each freed a prisoner on Saturday in a rare swap, an act of cooperation between two longtime foes whose ties have worsened since President Donald Trump took office.Trump said Xiyue Wang, a US citizen held in Iran for three years on spying charges, was returning to the United States. An Iranian official said that Iranian Massoud Soleimani had been freed from detention in the United States.A senior US administration official said Washington was hopeful that Wang’s release would lead to the freeing of other Americans held in Iran and was a sign Tehran is willing to come to the table to talk about other issues.Wang appeared to be in good health and humor, he said.Switzerland facilitated the swap and Iranian state news agency IRNA said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed Soleimani in Zurich, where it said the swap took place. It said Soleimani was expected to return to Iran in the coming hours.In a statement issued by the White House, Trump made no mention of the freeing of Soleimani but thanked the Swiss government for its help in negotiating Wang’s release.“Freeing Americans held captive is of vital importance to my administration, and we will continue to work hard to bring home all our citizens wrongfully held captive overseas,” he said.“Glad that Professor Massoud Soleimani and Xiyue Wang will be joining their families shortly. Many thanks to all engaged, particularly the Swiss government,” Zarif tweeted. The senior US official said the release was the result of three or four weeks of intensive negotiations. “We’re hopeful this will lead us to further success with Iran,” he told reporters in a conference call. — Agencieshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/J909-bkgK0s

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