US and Iran swap prisoners after Qatar-brokered deal unfreezes $6 billion of Iranian oil money

A Qatari jet carrying five American citizens who were detained in Iran has arrived inDoha as part of a prisoner exchange with same number of Iranians on Monday (September 18).

The American citizens who had been detained in Iran, some for nearly a decade, were freed after a controversial prisoner swap involving the unfreezing of at least $6 billion of Iranian money by US President Joe Biden’s administration.

As a part of the deal, Tehran and Washington had agreed to swap five prisoners each.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

American citizens leave Tehran

A report by Reuters citing a source said that a Qatari plane took off from Tehran carrying the five American detainees and two of their relatives shortly after the US and Iran received confirmation that the funds, blocked in South Korea, had been transferred to accounts in Doha.

The rare deal brokered by Qatar between the two arch-enemies triggered an exchange sequence which was agreed upon after at least a reported eight rounds of talks over several months between Iran and the US as theycontinueto remain at odds over a number of issues.

The five Americans with dual nationality are in “good health,” and will fly to Doha and then to the US, said an Iranian official briefed on the process, as per Reuters.

About the detainees

The five American detainees include well-known conservationist Morad Tahbaz (67), an Iranian-American environmentalist who also holds British citizenship; Siamak Namazi (51), a businessman with dual US-Iranian citizenship; and an Iranian-American businessman, named Emad Sharghi (59).

However, The fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified as they wished to remain anonymous.

Ahead of their arrival, Biden had granted clemency to five Iranians jailed or awaiting trial for non-violent crimes, a US official told AFP.

Iranian detainees in US

The five Iranians held in the US are Mehrdad Moin-Ansari, Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, Amin Hassanzadeh and Kaveh Afrasiabi, according to officials in Tehran. Two of the five Iranians to be released in the exchange had landed in Doha, as per Iranian media reports.

“Mehrdad Moein Ansari and Reza Sarhangpour, who were released in the US-Iran prisoner exchange and were planning to travel to Iran, entered Doha,” reported Tasnim news agency.

Two Iranians released would stay in the US at their request and one detainee would join his family in a third country, said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.

The $6 billion frozen in South Korea had been generated by Iranthrough oil sales to Seoul. It was stuckafter the US under former president Donald Trump reimposed sanctions as he withdrew from a landmark nuclear accord of 2015.

Biden sanctions former Iranian president: Report

A report by AFP citing a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Biden is also imposing new sanctions on Iran’s intelligence ministry and former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over alleged deceit over the disappearance of Bob Levinson, a former FBI agent.

“The United States will never give up on Bob Levinson’s case. We call on the Iranian regime to give a full account of what happened to Bob Levinson,” the US official told AFP.

The former FBI agent disappeared in Iran under mysterious circumstances and is presumed dead. According to the report, Levinson had travelled to the Iranian island of Kish on a CIA mission and has not been heard from while Iran has not acknowledged his arrest.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.