Iran’s top judge demands US release assets

DUBAI: Iran´s top judge called on the United States on Monday to release Iranians held in US jails and billions of dollars in Iranian assets, days after Washington urged Tehran to free three US citizens.

The statement by Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani capped a week of heightened rhetoric over the jailing and disappearance of Americans in Iran and new US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

“We tell them: ´You should immediately release Iranian citizens held in American prisons in violation of international rules and based on baseless charges´,”

On Friday, US President Donald Trump urged Tehran to return Robert Levinson, an American former law enforcement officer who disappeared in Iran more than a decade ago, and release businessman Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer, jailed on espionage charges.