EXCLUSIVE: US denies Iran prisoner swap in Tsurkov case

Shafaq News/ The US State Department denied reports of a prisoner exchange involving Iranian detainees as part of negotiations to secure the release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was abducted in Iraq in March 2023.

Responding to a Shafaq News inquiry about claims of a potential deal involving Iranians accused of killing Americans, a State Department spokesperson said, “While discussions are always ongoing, reports of this possible trade are categorically false.”

Tsurkov, a doctoral researcher at Stanford University, disappeared in Baghdad over two years ago while conducting fieldwork. She is believed to be held by an Iran-aligned armed group, reportedly Kataib Hezbollah. However, the group denied any involvement in the incident.

While Washington confirmed ongoing talks, it rejected suggestions of a broader deal involving high-profile Iranian prisoners. Several Western media outlets had reported the possibility of a deal that could include the release of a detained member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and six other individuals, allegedly under an undeclared US-Iraqi understanding.