Iran and the United States carried out a prisoner exchange this Monday, 18th, after almost US$6 billion in Iranian assets that were frozen in South Korea arrived in Qatar, an important factor for the agreement, officials said.
The Americans who were detained in Iran took off on a plane from Tehran just as US President Joe Biden and Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, are expected to attend the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York , on Tuesday, 19. The five Americans flew to Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Despite the deal, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the US and Iran, which are embroiled in several disputes, including over Tehran’s nuclear program. The Persian country says the program is peaceful, but it is now enriching uranium to high levels.
Declarations
In a statement, Biden said “five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally returning home.”
He added that the prisoners “will soon be reunited with their loved ones – after enduring years of agony, uncertainty and suffering. I am grateful to our domestic and foreign partners for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland and South Korea.”
Siamak Namazi, one of the five Americans freed, said in a statement that he had dreamed of freedom for nearly eight years while experiencing “torment” during 2,898 days in prison.
“My sincere gratitude to President Biden and his administration, who had to make some incredibly difficult decisions to rescue us,” he said in the statement. “Thank you, President Biden, for putting the lives of American citizens above politics. Thank you for ending this nightmare. Thank you for bringing us home.”
The Americans will undergo a brief medical examination in Doha before boarding a US government plane back to Washington, officials said.
Kanaani, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, made his comments during a press conference broadcast on state television, but the broadcast was cut off immediately after his statements.
“Fortunately, Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea have been released and, God willing, today the assets will begin to be fully controlled by the government and the nation,” Kanaani said
Mohammad Reza Farzin, head of Iran’s Central Bank, later appeared on state television to acknowledge receiving more than 5.5 billion euros – $5.9 billion – into accounts in Qatar. Months ago, Iran expected to receive up to 7 billion dollars.
The planned exchange unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and protecting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
“This action was taken strictly to meet a humanitarian need,” the Iranian president told reporters in New York on Monday. He added: “These were funds that belonged to the people of Iran.”
Reviews
The deal has also already exposed Biden to renewed criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is contributing to an improving Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Middle Eastern allies. This could also have implications for his re-election campaign.
Washington said the exchange included Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges; Emad Sharghi, a businessman sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
So far, US authorities have refused to identify the fourth and fifth prisoners.
The money that the Persian country will receive represents a payment that South Korea owed to Iran, but did not pay, for oil acquired before the United States imposed sanctions on the transactions in 2019.
The US maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be kept in restricted accounts and can only be used for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Such transactions are currently permitted under US sanctions targeting Iran over its nuclear program.
nuclear program
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to produce “several” bombs, and that it would likely take a few months to build a weapon.
The Persian country maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful and the US intelligence community has maintained its assessment that Iran is not developing an atomic bomb.
Iran has taken steps in recent months to resolve some issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency. But advances in its program have led to fears of a wider regional conflagration as Israel, also a nuclear power, said it would not allow Tehran to develop a bomb. (WITH INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES)
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