...

Iran rejects prisoners swap with al-Qaeda

Politics Materials 17 September 2015 16:08 (UTC +04:00)
Iran has rejected media reports about releasing five al Qaeda members in exchange for a diplomat kidnapped in Yemen earlier this year
Iran rejects prisoners swap with al-Qaeda

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran has rejected media reports about releasing five al Qaeda members in exchange for a diplomat kidnapped in Yemen earlier this year.

An official with the Islamic Republic's foreign ministry, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, called the reports "baseless and false," Iran 's official IRIB news agency reported Sept. 17.

Early this week the UK-based Sky News reported that Tehran has released five senior al Qaeda operatives from detention and will soon allow them to leave the country, citing intelligence sources.

According to the report, three of the five are members of al Qaeda's ruling committee, the Shura Council. However, the Iranian official underlined that Tehran is seriously against implementing double standard policies in dealing with terrorism.

Iran is fighting terrorism and believes that double standard towards terrorism is the main reason for its survival, the official added.

Publishing such news is aimed at undermining Iran 's efforts against terrorism and extremism the Iranian diplomatic source said.

Early in March Iran announced that its security forces have released Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, an Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Yemen in 2013 after a series of complex operations.

Edited by CN

Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh

Tags:
Latest

Latest