Tehran, Apr 7 (IANS): Iranian Deputy Justice Minister Mahmoud Abbasi said that Iran is in talks with some countries to exchange prisoners amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, official IRNA news agency reported.
"Given the current sensitive situation and outbreak of coronavirus, we are in talks with the countries to exchange prisoners," Abbasi said on Monday noting that the follow-ups through the Foreign Ministry and Interpol have yielded positive results, reported Xinhua news agency.
Currently, 2,600 Afghan convicts are prepared to leave for their country and some central Asian states have agreed to exchange prisoners, Abbasi was quoted as saying.
Iran's judiciary has already freed 100,000 prisoners on bail amid the virus concerns.
Iran is the worst-hit country by the pandemic in the Middle East, with 60,500 confirmed cases and 3,739 deaths as of Monday.