Iran on Thursday (August 10th) confirmed the release of American prisoners held in Evin prison in Tehran as part of a prisoner swap deal with the United States, the agency said. Irna official press. “Under this agreement, five Iranian prisoners in the United States and five American prisoners in Iran will be exchanged,” Irna news agency reported, citing an informed source.
Four prisoners, Iranian-Americans Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharqi, Morad Tahbaz, as well as another detainee whose name has not been disclosed, left Evin prison on Thursday to be transferred to house arrest, it was announced. the family of one of them earlier. The case of a fifth prisoner, an American, is part of the negotiations. She has already joined a house arrest a few weeks ago.
The Irna agency confirmed this information, citing Iran’s mission to the UN. All of the Americans detained are of Iranian descent. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship and has had no diplomatic relations with the United States since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The progress made towards the release of these detainees comes after discreet and intense negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Iran had confirmed in June to hold indirect talks with the United States through the Sultanate of Oman, a traditional mediator between the two countries.
According to a source familiar with the negotiations, they focused on unfreezing six billion dollars of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea to a special account in Qatar. The country had blocked these funds, resulting from the sale of hydrocarbons by Iran, following American sanctions. Iran could use these funds for humanitarian purchases, such as food and medicine.
Asked about this point, the head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken nevertheless clarified Thursday evening that “Iran does not benefit (would) from any relief from sanctions”. “Iran’s funds should be used and transferred to restricted accounts so that they can only be used for humanitarian purposes,” he said.
If all goes as planned, the prisoners could leave Iran during the month of September, according to a source familiar with the matter. “I think this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare and that of their families,” added Antony Blinken, adding that to his knowledge there were no other Americans detained in Iran.
