Addressing the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araghchi in a tweet on Saturday morning wrote, "UK tries to blackmail Iran by taking our OWN money- illegally kept for more than 40 years- hostage in exchange for prisoners."
"This is never going to work. We still have a deal. Time for UK to do right thing and stop letting US sabotage humanitarian exchange," he added.
Araghchi's tweet came as Boris Johnson in a tweet on Friday demanded the release of one of the security convicts. "On the fourth anniversary of Anoosheh Ashoori’s wrongful detention in Iran, I reiterate my call for Iran to do the right thing and release him immediately. Anoosheh and the other British nationals unjustly imprisoned in Iran must be able to return to their families in the UK."
Earlier, Araghchi also reacted to the tweet of the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in which he called for the release of Ashoori and other dual-national prisoners. "Sec @dominicraab, You know better than anybody else that deal for release of 10 prisoners-incl Anoosheh Ashoori-was concluded weeks ago but your friends in DC froze it."
"Ashoori and 9 more are taken hostage by US for political goals. Hope you'll explain this to your own people," he added.
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