(FOLHAPRESS)
The United States government agreed to release US$6 billion (R$29.2 billion) in frozen resources from Iran as part of a prisoner exchange negotiation, which took place this Monday (18). The measure, considered historic, was implemented despite tensions between the countries – Tehran is an ally of Russia and China in the so-called Cold War 2.0.
The agreement was formalized after two years of negotiations that determined the exchange of five prisoners on each side. Two of the freed Iranians have already arrived in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which mediated the talks. From there, they were supposed to leave for Iran. The other three chose not to return to the Middle Eastern country, according to the Tasnim news agency – authorities did not disclose their whereabouts.
The released Americans were also scheduled to arrive in the Qatari capital this Monday. According to Washington, who did not go into details, they had been unfairly imprisoned, and the unfreezing of resources was one of the conditions imposed to release them. The Iranian regime limited itself to saying that they “are fine”.
An American government official told Reuters that the agreement does not change Washington’s relationship with Tehran, but that “the door was open” for talks on Iran’s nuclear program. Uranium enrichment in Iran is the subject of concern in the international community – last year, the regime said that the country was technically capable of manufacturing a nuclear bomb, but that it had not yet decided whether it would build one.
Under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hasan Rowhani, Washington and Tehran signed a nuclear agreement in 2013. The treaty stipulated limits on uranium enrichment, made it difficult for the country to access fuels used in nuclear weapons, reduced the number of centrifuges and scheduled inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. In return, economic sanctions were eased and $100 billion in aid to Iran was released.
Donald Trump’s victory for the Presidency, however, changed everything. In 2018, the Republican, who said that the agreement benefited the Iranians too much to the detriment of the Americans, unilaterally left the treaty and imposed new sanctions.
Throughout his term, Biden tried to reestablish the agreement, but negotiations stalled. In a statement released this Monday, the White House denies that the release of Iranian funds is the equivalent of paying a ransom. According to the Democrat government, financial sanctions will prevent Iran from spending the money on anything except food, medicine and other inputs.
The agreement, however, generated criticism from Republicans, who accuse Biden of helping to finance extremist organizations – Tehran appears on the American list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
The dual US citizens to be released include Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality. Two more people are under house arrest, but their identities have not been revealed.
The Iranians to be released are Mehrdad Moin-Ansari, Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, Amin Hassanzadeh and Kaveh Afrasiabi.
The post US and Iran exchange prisoners after releasing funds to Tehran appeared first in Jornal de Brasília.
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