Here we go again, although Iran is demanding the release of Iranian prisoners in exchange for the hostages this time.
The arrests of three American hikers who apparently wandered over a border into Iranian territory has turned into a full blown hostage crisis. Iran claimed today that they were negotiating with the American government for the release of Iranian prisoners for the three hostages who have been accused of spying (which carries the death penalty in Iran).
Although we may agree that the young progressives who wandered into Iranian territory were foolish beyond all measure to take such a risk, Iran is prepared to take full advantage of the situation.
According to Iran, some of the Iranian “prisoners” that they are demanding are people whose whereabouts aren’t actually known. They simply disappeared. This means that they could be in hiding or that they’ve defected to the west. They could be imprisoned by the west in unknown locations. They could be dead.
Fox News reports:
TEHRAN — Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday proposed a swap of Iranians in U.S. prisons for three American hikers being held in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad said in interview with state TV that there were ongoing negotiations about exchanging the hikers for several Iranians jailed for years in the United States.
“There are some talks under way to have an exchange, if it is possible,” he said. “Recently they (the U.S.) have sent messages, we answered to bring them (the Iranians), to bring these people (the hikers). We are hopeful that all prisoners will be released.”
Ahmadinejad did not mention any specifics but in December Iran released a list of 11 Iranians it says are being held in the U.S. — including a nuclear scientist who disappeared in Saudi Arabia and a former Defense Ministry official who vanished in Turkey. The list also includes an Iranian arrested in Canada on charges of trying to obtain nuclear technology.
“I had said I would help in releasing them, but the attitude of some of U.S. officials damages the job,” said Ahmadinejad. “There are a large number of Iranians in prison in the U.S. They have abducted some of our citizens in other countries.”
U.S. officials are denying that such negotiations are taking place:
“We have made clear that we would like the cases of all our missing and detained Americans citizens to be resolved,” National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said, naming the three hikers and three other Americans in Iran. “If President Ahmadinejad’s comments suggest that they are prepared to resolve these cases, we would welcome that step. But we have not entered into any discussion with Iran about an exchange.”
Iran’s foreign minister said in late December that the three would be tried in court, but he did not say when a trial would begin or what the three would be charged with other than to say they had “suspicious aims.” Earlier, the country’s chief prosecutor said they were accused of spying.
U.S. officials are, of course, dealing with Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s Iranian supervisors:
When the list of 11 Iranians came out State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said it appeared the Iranian government was trying to suggest some kind of equivalence between the hikers and Iranians that had left Iran.
“There really is no equivalence at all,” he said at the time.
Three of the Iranians on the list have been convicted or charged in public court proceedings in the United States. The circumstances surrounding some of the others are more mysterious.
If any of the missing Iranians have actually defected to the west, their release to Iran would mean their deaths. If Iran sticks to their demands regardless of the unknown fates of the missing Iranians, the three hikers could be put to death.
Just to keep things mildly entertaining for the Iranian side, the Iranians are also stalling for time again in their nuclear ambitions by claiming that they are willing to soften their position on the matter of enriched uranium:
Iran also said it was ready to send its uranium abroad for further enrichment as requested by the UN.
Ahmadinejad said Iran would have no “problem” giving the West its low enriched uranium and taking it back several months later when it is enriched by 20%. The decision is a major shift in the Iranian position on the issue.
All this is happening mere days after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad strongly hinted in a speech that Iran controls the world:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a Tehran conference Saturday that whoever controls the Middle East controls the world, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
In a speech during a conference marking 30 years to the Islamic Revolution, Ahamdinejad reportedly implied that Iran is the top power in the Middle East. “Now the question is who has the last say in the Middle East? Well, of course, the answer is clear to every one,” Ahamdinejad said.
Ahmadinejad: Whoever controls the Mideast controls the world
As Carl in Jerusalem often says, “What could go wrong?”
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