Five US citizens jailed in Iran have landed in Qatar in a rare prisoner swap between the two opposing nations, dependant on $US6 billion in frozen assets.
Key points:
- 10 Iranian and US prisoners will be swapped in a rare deal with the two nations
- $US6 billion ($9.3 billion) will also be given to Iran as part of the exchange deal, following sanctions
- The deal has faced criticism, with Republicans saying the money will boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat
Five Iranian prisoners will also be returned after being jailed in the US, though three will not return to Iran.
“Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement, adding they “will soon be reunited with their loved ones — after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani was the first to acknowledge the Monday swap.
He said the $US6 billion ($9.3 billion) sought for the exchange that had been held by South Korea was now in Qatar.
US officials received the five Americans after they disembarked from a Qatari plane at Doha, a Reuters witness said.
The prisoners were flown out of Tehran only when both sides received confirmation that the funds had been transferred to accounts in Qatar, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Qatar, the Gulf Arab nation, has served as a go-between for the US and Iran. Switzerland’s ambassador to Iran also accompanied the five prisoners on the plane to Doha, a witness said.
As a first step in the deal, Washington waived sanctions to allow the transfer of money.
However, funds were blocked in South Korea when Washington imposed sweeping financial sanctions on Tehran and the cash could not be transferred.
Mr Kanaani made his comments during a news conference aired on state television, but the feed cut immediately after his remarks.
“On the subject of the prisoner swap, it will happen today and five prisoners, citizens of the Islamic Republic, will be released from the prisons in the US,” he said.
“Five imprisoned citizens who were in Iran will be given to the US side.”
He said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the US.
The five Americans with dual nationality are due to fly to Doha and then on to the US.
“They are in good health,” an Iranian official briefed on the process said about the detainees.
Two people, including a senior Biden administration official, said that the prisoners had left Tehran.
In addition to the five freed Americans, two US family members flew out, according to the Biden administration official out of Tehran.
US prisoners being released include:
- Siamak Namazi, 51: A businessman who was detained in 2015. was He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges
- Emad Sharqi, 59: A venture capitalist accused of spying in 2018 that was cleared. However, authorities refused to return his passport and he was later convicted on espionage.
- Morad Tahbaz, 67: An environmentalist, who also holds British nationality, and was arrested during a conservationist crackdown in 2018
A fourth US citizen was also released into house arrest, while a fifth was already under house arrest.
Their identities have not been disclosed.
Iranian officials have named the five Iranians to be released by the US as:
- Mehrdad Moin-Ansari
- Kambiz Attar-Kashani
- Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani
- Amin Hassanzadeh
- Kaveh Afrasiabi
The five prisoners in the US are mostly held over allegedly trying to export banned material to Iran, such as dual use electronics that can be used by the military.
The sanctions, which temporarily blocked the money transfer, were imposed over alleged deceit over the disappearance of former FBI agent Bob Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in mysterious circumstances.
“The United States will never give up on Bob Levinson’s case,” a senior US official said on condition of anonymity.
“We call on the Iranian regime to give a full account of what happened to Bob Levinson.”
The deal has also already opened US President Biden to criticism from Republicans and others who say that the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to US troops and allies.
The US maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and will only be able to be used for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred with that explanation, though some hard-liners have insisted, without providing evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
Iran and the US have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 US Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
Wires