US President Donald Trump on Saturday thanked Iran for a prisoner swap and indicated that Washington and Tehran can "make a deal together".
Trump's remark comes after Iran has freed an American graduate student who was held for three years on suspicion of espionage. Notably, the swap comes at a time when relations between the US and Iran are at an all-time low.
"Taken during the Obama Administration (despite $150 Billion gift), returned during the Trump Administration. Thank you to Iran on a very fair negotiation. See, we can make a deal together!," the US President tweeted.
Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, a Princeton University PhD student, was conducting research in Tehran when he was arrested there on espionage charges in August 2016.
Wang was sent to Iran's notorious Evin Prison and sentenced to 10 years, CNN reported.
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Saturday that Wang's release comes as a prisoner swap between the two countries.
In exchange for Wang's release, the US freed Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani, Zarif said on Twitter, sharing a photo of himself accompanying Soleimani home on an Iranian plane.
Soleimani, an Iranian stem cell scientist, was arrested by the US law enforcement upon landing in Chicago in 2018, according to Iran's state-run Press TV.
Zarif said Wang and Soleimani would be "joining their families shortly."
Because the US and Iran do not have diplomatic relations, the Swiss government had provided consular services to Wang and reported back to the State Department.
The White House announced Wang's release in a statement on early Saturday (local time), thanking the Swiss government for their assistance in negotiating with Iran.
