Emad Kiyaei discusses Prisoner Swap on 'PBS Newshour'

/

AIC Executive Director Emad Kiyaei was interviewed about Implementation Day, the recent release of American sailors, and the prisoner swap between the US and Iran on PBS Newshour.

"This is a major breakthrough. It's a very good day for the Iranians and for the international community," Kiyaei said. "I hope that this nuclear deal, the prisoner exchange, and the swift release of the sailors is just one step toward opening up the relationship between the two countries on issues where they see eye-to-eye."

Asked if the personal relationship between State Secretary John Kerry and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif played a role in the developments, Kiyaei said, "If you look at the past two-and-a-half years, itwas not just intense negotiations. It was the first time that the US and Iran negotiated directly. You now have a direct channel and of course that helped in these cases. The release of the sailors within 24 hours would never have have happened so swiftly two-and-a-half years or even a year ago."

/ / Comment
, , ,
, , ,

Kayvon Afshari

Kayvon Afshari managed the campaign to elect Hooshang Amirahmadi as President of Iran. In this role, he directed the campaign’s event planning, publicity, online social media, web analytics, and delivered speeches. Mr. Afshari has also been working at the CBS News foreign desk for over five years. He has coordinated coverage of Iran’s 2009 post-election demonstrations, the Arab Spring, the earthquake in Haiti, and many other stories of international significance. He holds a Master in International Relations from New York University’s Department of Politics, and graduated with distinction from McGill University in 2007 with a double major in political science and Middle Eastern studies. At NYU, his research focused on quantitative analysis and the Middle East with an emphasis on US-Iran relations. In his 2012 Master’s thesis, he devised a formula to predict whether Israel would launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, concluding that an overt strike would not materialize.