(CNN) Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British Iranian mother jailed in Iran three years ago on espionage charges, could be released as part of a prisoner exchange, Iran's Foreign Minister said Wednesday.

Speaking at an Asia Society event in New York, Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had the authority to initiate a wide-ranging exchange, involving prisoners in Iran and those held by the United States or third countries.

In response to a question from the audience, Iran's top diplomat contrasted the case of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker who was arrested in April 2016, with the case of an Iranian he said was detained in Australia.

A still captured from Iranian state media, which purportedly shows the detention of British-Iranian woman, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

"We have an Iranian woman in Australia who gave birth to a child in prison... on an extradition request by the United States because she was responsible as a translator in a ... purchase operation ... of some transmission equipment for Iranian broadcasting company, that's her charge," the minister said.

"Now we hear about Nazanin Zaghari and her child, and I feel sorry for them, and I've done my best to help, but nobody talks about this lady in Australia," Zarif said.

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