Iran Calls for Prisoner Swap With Azerbaijan

Iranian Attorney-General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri on Tuesday called for an exchange of prisoners with Azerbaijan. Montazeri, in a meeting with Azerbaijani counterpart Kamran Aliyev in Tehran, said that 234 Iranians are imprisoned in Azerbaijan, mostly for drug-related offenses, and that 14 Azerbaijanis were serving time in Iranian prisons. Montazeri said he expects Iran and Azerbaijan “would swap prisoners with each other within the framework of the pacts” signed between the two countries on judicial matters. He also called for periodically swapping prisoners during a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Russia in January.