Five Americans detained in Iran have been removed from their prisons and placed under house arrest, families and Washington announced on Thursday. This is the first step in a fragile deal that could result in billions of dollars being released for Tehran.
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Progress in releasing these prisoners – one of whom has been detained for nearly eight years – is the result of discreet and intense negotiations between Washington and Tehran, who have been enemies for decades.
The next step in a deal could be to transfer $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen in South Korea to a special account in Qatar, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
Iran could use it for humanitarian purchases like food and medicine.
When asked about this point, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, nevertheless made it clear on Thursday evening that “Iran would not (would) benefit from an easing of sanctions.”
“Iranian funds should be used and transferred to blocked accounts in such a way that they can only be used for humanitarian purposes,” he said.
If all goes as planned, the detainees could leave Iran sometime in September, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“I think this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare and that of their families,” Mr Blinken added, adding that to his knowledge, no other Americans are being held in Iran.
Four prisoners – Iranian-Americans Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharqi, Morad Tahbaz and another prisoner whose name has not been released – left Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Thursday. extremely difficult.
On Thursday evening, the Iranian mission to the United Nations confirmed her release from prison.
According to the lawyer of one of the detainees, the four were taken to a hotel where they will remain under law enforcement supervision.
The case of a fifth prisoner, an American, is part of the negotiations. She already joined a house arrest several weeks ago.
“If this is an encouraging move, these American citizens (…) should never have been imprisoned,” Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.
“Negotiations for her final release are ongoing and remain delicate,” she added.
“We are grateful that Siamak and the other Americans in Iran were released from Evin prison and placed under house arrest,” said Babak Namazi, Siamak’s brother.
“While this is a positive development, we will not stop our efforts until Siamak and the others return home,” he said in a statement.
All detained Americans are of Iranian descent. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship and has not maintained diplomatic relations with the United States since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
According to a source close to the deal, the negotiations focused on the release of the $6 billion in Iran in South Korea. The country had blocked these funds from Iran’s hydrocarbon sales due to American sanctions.
The deal, fragile as it is, comes as the Joe Biden and Tehran governments fail to find common ground to return to the 2015 nuclear deal from which Donald Trump withdrew.
Siamak Namazi, a businessman, was arrested in October 2015 and charged with espionage. It was based on evidence his family called ridiculous.
Morad Tahbaz, a US-Iranian citizen who also has British citizenship, was arrested in January 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for “conspiring with America”.
Emad Sharqi, an American-Iranian investor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020 for espionage.