Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari said on Monday that negotiations to complete the prisoner exchange agreement between the United States and Iran took more than two years, noting that once the prisoners are released, the financial part of the agreement will begin to work.
Al-Ansari confirmed – in an interview with Al Jazeera – that Doha is in the process of completing the prisoner exchange process, under an agreement preceded by intensive visits by Qatari officials to Washington and Tehran.
The Qatari official's comments came as a U.S. official confirmed that Washington had received confirmation that the five Americans released under the deal were on their way to Doha.
Qatari mediation
On the other hand, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi said that 5 Americans were detained in Iran on their way to Doha, as part of the agreement between Washington and Tehran mediated by Qatar.
Al-Khelaifi pointed out that Iranian funds frozen in South Korea were transferred to Doha as part of the implementation of the agreement, expressing Doha's hope that the full implementation of the agreement will lead to greater understandings, including a return to the nuclear agreement.
Informed sources reported earlier today that Qatar had assured Washington and Tehran of the transfer of released Iranian funds worth $ 6 billion to banks in Doha, while Tehran said that the path of implementing the agreement for the exchange of prisoners and the release of its funds is "progressing well."
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran confirmed the deposit of 5 billion and 573 million euros of Iranian funds in Iranian accounts in Qatar. "We received a letter from Qatar confirming the activation of six Iranian bank accounts in two Qatari banks," he said.
CNN quoted US officials as saying that Iranian funds transferred to accounts in Qatar "will only be used for humanitarian purchases."
For his part, an informed source told Reuters - citing informed Iranian officials - that 5 American prisoners will soon be transferred to an airport in Tehran to head to Qatar, noting that they are in good health.
The source also told Reuters that a Qatari plane in Iran was preparing to take the five Americans to Doha, along with two family members.
Good progress
In turn, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the process of implementing the prisoner exchange agreement and the release of Iranian funds is progressing well, step by step.
Iranian Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said that his country and the United States of America will exchange prisoners today, explaining that two Iranian detainees in American prisons will return to the country, while two others will remain in the United States, and a third will be transferred to a third country.
Last month, Iran and the United States announced an agreement to release billions of dollars frozen to Tehran in exchange for a prisoner exchange between the two countries, with the money transferred to accounts in Qatar.