Zoom Image
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi
Photo: WANA / REUTERS
In a prisoner exchange, Iran has released five U.S. citizens. This is reported by several news agencies in agreement. The released were on board a plane en route from Tehran to Qatar, a senior U.S. government official said. Two family members of those previously detained in Iran, who had been banned from traveling by Iran, were also on board the plane.
Flight data evaluated by the AP news agency shows that a Qatar Airways flight took off from Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, which was used for exchanges in the past. Iranian state media also reported shortly afterwards that the flight had left Tehran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani had previously confirmed that the exchange would take place on Monday.
In return, the U.S. pardoned five Iranians who had been convicted or charged with "nonviolent crimes." Among the most famous of them is businessman Siamak Namasi, who has both American and Iranian citizenship. He was imprisoned in 2015 and sentenced to ten years in prison for espionage. In 2018, environmentalist Morad Tahbas and businessman Emad Shargi were arrested. The identities of the other two Americans who have now been released were not initially known.
In addition, Iran will have access to around six billion US dollars (around 5.6 billion euros) from its own assets – the money had been frozen in South Korea due to international sanctions. The Islamic Republic will be able to use the money to buy goods under supervision that are not affected by sanctions. Due to the punitive measures, Iran is cut off from global payments.
The prisoner swap had been in preparation for months. According to the White House, Oman and Qatar played a particularly important role in the negotiations. At the beginning of August, Iran released the now released Americans from custody and placed them under house arrest in a hotel in the capital Tehran.
The exchange comes ahead of the meeting of world leaders at this week's UN General Assembly in New York, where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will deliver a speech.
czl/AP/AFP