Five US prisoners held in Iran finally freed in controversial £5bn swap deal
Iran and the United States have swapped prisoners today in a controversial deal after nearly £5 million in once-frozen Iranian assets were released.
The cash reached , an agreement that was a key element of the planned swap, officials said. Five Iranian Americans jailed by the regime were free and a Qatari jet has taken off from Iran, believed to contain the freed prisoners, accompanied by the Qatari ambassador.
Despite the deal, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the US and Iran, which are locked in various disputes, including over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to.
Mehrdad Moein Ansari (L) and Reza Sarhangpour, two Iranian nationals who were detained in the United States and released in a prisoner-swap deal with Iran (NOURNEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Im)Involved in the swap today were:
Woman who fled dangerous Iran watched 16 people drown in dinghy disaster
- Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges
- Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years
- Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
After the plane slowed to a stop, three of the prisoners walked down the ramp and were greeted by the US ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis. The former prisoners hugged the ambassador and others.
Namazi, Sharghi and Tahbaz — then wrapped their arms around their shoulders and walked off to a building in the airport. In a statement issued on his behalf after landing, Namazi said: “I would not be free today, if it wasn’t for all of you who didn’t allow the world to forget me.”
US citizens Siamak Namazi (2L), Emad Sharqi (C) and Morad Tahbaz (R) are greeted upon their arrival at the Doha International Airpor (AFP via Getty Images)“Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison,” Namazi said.
All of their charges have been widely criticized by their families, activists and the US government.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the Qataris, Swiss, South Koreans and Omanis for helping in the exchange, and pledged in a statement to keep pressing for “accountability for Iran and other regimes for the cruel practice of wrongful detention.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani (AP)"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 added. "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. Nour News, a website believed to be close to Iran’s security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners had arrived in Doha for the swap
Ahead of the deal, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani was the first to acknowledge the swap would take place Monday. He said the cash sought for the exchange that had been held by South Korea was now in Qatar.
Kanaani made his comments during a news conference aired on state television, but the feed cut immediately after his remarks.
"Fortunately Iran's frozen assets in South Korea were released and God willing today the assets will start to be fully controlled by the government and the nation," Kanaani said.
Iran facing same issues as stadiums re-open after World Cup protests
The former US Embassy in Tehran which has been turned into an anti-American museum (AP)In the afternoon, a person with direct knowledge of the deal, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity given the exchange had yet to be concluded at that, said the US detainees had reached the airport in Tehran with Qatar's ambassador.
The person said that both Iranian and US officials had been notified by Qatar that the money had been transferred to the Gulf Arab nation, which serves as a go-between for the US and Iran.
Mohammad Reza Farzin, Iran's Central Bank chief, later came on state television to acknowledge the receipt of over 5.5 billion euros - $5.9 billion - in accounts in Qatar. Months ago, Iran had anticipated getting as much as $7 billion.
(AFP via Getty Images)Washington did not comment on the announcement. The planned exchange comes ahead of the convening of world leaders at the UN General Assembly this week in New York, where Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi will speak.
The announcement by Kanaani comes weeks after Iran said that five Iranian-Americans had been transferred from prison to house arrest as part of a confidence-building move. Meanwhile, Seoul allowed the frozen assets, held in South Korean currency, to be converted into euros.
(From left to right) Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad TahbazThe swap has unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of US troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of all oil shipments pass.
The deal has also already opened US President to fresh 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 American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his reelection campaign as well.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
