- By Bernd Debusmann Jr
- BBC News
September 19, 2023, 11:49 BST
Updated 43 minutes ago
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A family member hugs the released American Siamak Namazi
A plane carrying five Americans who have been imprisoned in Iran for years has landed in the United States following a controversial prisoner exchange.
They landed Tuesday morning at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, south of Washington DC.
They had previously flown from Tehran to Doha, where they were transferred to a plane bound for the USA.
The final part of the deal came together on Monday when $6 billion (£4.8 billion) worth of Iranian cash – held in South Korea – was sent to banks in Doha.
The released prisoners are dual Iranian-American citizens. Five Iranians were also released from US custody and of those five, three chose not to return to Iran.
The plane carrying the five Americans landed at Davison Army Airfield shortly before 5:30 a.m. local time (09:30 GMT) and they enjoyed an emotional, tearful reunion with family members on the tarmac.
Friends and family waved small U.S. flags as the group exited the plane.
“The nightmare is finally over,” said a relative of one of the freed Americans, Siamak Namazi. “We haven’t had this moment in over eight years. It’s incredible.”
“[It is] the beginning of a very long road to recovery and healing,” a family representative added.
Also on board the plane were two family members, US presidential envoy Roger Carstens and Abram Paley, deputy special envoy to Iran. Both met the released prisoners in Doha.
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Morad Tahbaz (left) and Emad Shargi (center) after their arrival at a US airfield in Virginia
In brief remarks at Fort Belvoir, Mr. Carstens encouraged the former detainees to take advantage of the “post-isolation support” offered by the U.S. military and expressed confidence that they would “continue the fight to bring more Americans home.”
U.S. officials have long claimed that five detainees held in Iran were wrongfully imprisoned for political influence.
The Americans include 51-year-old businessman Namazi, who spent almost eight years in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, as well as 59-year-old businessman Emad Shargi and 67-year-old environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who also has British citizenship.
The other two prisoners did not want to be named.
The five Iranians released under the deal were mostly detained in the United States on charges that they violated U.S. sanctions.
In a statement on Monday, US President Joe Biden welcomed the prisoner exchange and said Americans would be reunited with their loved one “after years of agony, uncertainty and suffering.”
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Emad Shargi hugs his wife
At the same time, Mr. Biden vowed to “continue to impose costs on Iran for its provocative actions in the region.”
“And as we welcome our fellow citizens home, I remind all Americans once again of the serious risks of traveling to Iran,” he added. “American passport holders should not travel there.”
The president’s comments came as the US announced new sanctions against former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.
One of the released prisoners, Siamak Namazi, said in a statement that he “would not be free today if it were not for all of you who did not allow the world to forget me.”
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 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 out from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison,” he added.
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Family members hug two of the five released Americans after they arrived at Fort Belvoir in the United States
The Iranian funds released as part of the deal were owed by South Korea to Tehran for oil purchased before the Trump administration’s sanctions in 2019 banned such transactions. The US has stated that the funds released may only be used for humanitarian purposes.
However, the return of the money has sparked controversy in the US and has been heavily criticized by some of Mr Biden’s political opponents.
Several prominent Republicans have expressed concerns that Iran will use the money to support proxy groups in the Middle East.
The US government has downplayed these concerns. Last week, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. Treasury Department had “strict oversight” of the funds and that Washington had “the ability to monitor their use.”
A senior administration official also told reporters that the U.S. would block the funds if Iran tried to divert them or use them for anything other than humanitarian purposes.
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Watch: Moment five Americans freed from Iran change planes in Qatar