It informs Reuters.
Qatari intermediaries relayed messages between the US and Iran during prisoner exchange talks held in Doha at two separate hotels.
According to the agency’s sources, five Americans released from the Iranian prison “Evin” flew on a Qatari plane from Tehran to Doha. Among them were 67-year-old ecologist Morad Tahbaz, who also has British citizenship, businessmen 51-year-old Siamak Namazi and 59-year-old Emad Sharki.
A fourth US citizen was released under house arrest, and a fifth was already under house arrest. Their identities are not disclosed.
Two out of five Iranians who were released from an American prison arrived in Doha.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said two of them will return to Iran, while the other two will remain in the United States of their own free will. Another released Iranian will go to his relatives in another country.
About $6 billion, which was frozen in South Korea due to US sanctions against Iran in 2018, was transferred to accounts in Doha. Under the terms of the agreement, Qatar will ensure that these funds go to humanitarian purposes.
US Republicans are reportedly critical of the Iran deal. They claim that US President Joe Biden actually bribed American citizens.
What is known about the disputes between the United States and Iran
Relations between Washington and Tehran have soured since Republican Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers when he was president in 2018.
In January, it was reported that the US government was not ruling out military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but that the best way forward lay through diplomacy.
Subsequently, Serhiy Danilov, deputy director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, noted that the preparation of an unofficial agreement between the United States and Iran regarding the unfreezing of part of the assets and the non-imposition of new sanctions is underway.
US President Joe Biden has extended sanctions against organizations and individuals from the Russian Federation and Iran responsible for the illegal detention of American citizens abroad for another year.
On September 12, the United States waived sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian assets from South Korea to Qatar. This is necessary for the implementation of the previously announced prisoner exchange between the United States and Iran. The money was frozen in South Korea, normally one of the biggest consumers of Iranian oil, when Washington imposed broad financial sanctions on Tehran and the money could not be transferred.
Fuente: espreso.tv
