Iran's top diplomat says ready for immediate prisoner swap with U.S.

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian attends a press conference after his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Berri, in Beirut

(Reuters) - Iran is ready to swap prisoners with the United States, Iran's foreign minister said in Germany on Saturday, adding the West would be to blame if talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal fail as Tehran is ready to reach a good agreement.

"We believe prisoner swaps is a humanitarian issue ... unrelated to the nuclear accord. We can do it immediately," Hossein Amirabdollahian told a panel at the Munich Security Conference.

"If the nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers fail in Vienna, Western powers will be responsible for it because we want a good deal."

When asked whether Tehran was ready to hold direct talks with Washington, Amirabdollahian refrained from ruling it out by saying: "We need to see tangible steps of goodwill by Washington such as freeing Iran's frozen assets abroad".

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Potter)