BBC World Service South Asia

Migrated podcast image for: Weekend Break

Weekend

News

A review of the week with the latest news.

Weekend: US and Iranian men released in prisoner swap

Magazines & Reviews

us iran.jpg

08/12/2019 GMT

US and Iranian men released in prisoner swap

BBC World Service - Weekend, US and Iranian men released in prisoner swap

Iran and the US have carried out a rare prisoner swap despite heightened tensions

Iran and the United States have carried out a rare exchange of prisoners, despite the tensions between them. It involved Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian scientist arrested in the US after allegedly violating trade sanctions. He was swapped for an American PhD student, Xiyue Wang, who had spent three years of a ten year sentence in prison in Iran for spying - a charge he denied.

Also on the programme: Protesters in Hong Kong are hoping to rally huge crowds for a march through the main island; and can universal basic income reshape one of the poorest cities in the US?

Image: Princeton graduate student Xiyue Wang with his wife and their son before he was detained in Iran in August 2016. Credit: Hua Qu/Princeton University/AFP)

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Weekend

US and Iranian men released in prisoner swap

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service South Asia

About BBC World Service