Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh accused the US of stalling a proposed prisoners exchange by linking it to negotiations over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), during a press conference in Tehran on Monday.

"If the United States fulfills its obligations under that agreement, ten prisoners can be released on all sides, namely Iran, Britain, and the United States. Our advice is not to use a human issue politically; instead of empty statements, they would be better off taking action," said Khatibzadeh.

Providing further details, Khatibzadeh explained: "What the US is doing, unfortunately, is tying a humanitarian issue to a political goal that has never been acceptable to us... After Iran announced to the P4+1 parties that the seventh term of the Vienna talks would be held with the new government taking office, God willing, the US suddenly made the political decision to link that issue to this. That is, to tie the talks that have ended on this humanitarian issue to the JCPOA talks. We think this is the wrong approach and will make all paths difficult."

This sentiment echoed similar statements made by Iran's deputy foreign minister, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, on Twitter on Saturday, which the Biden administration rejected, calling them "outrageous" allegations.

The 7th round of JCPOA negitaitons in Vienna have been delayed until Iran’s president-elect Ebrahim Raisi, is inaugurated in early August.