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Sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday that Iran may release five detained American citizens as part of a deal that would unfreeze $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds in South Korea. Additionally, top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken described a procedure that he expects will result in the release of the five Americans and their return to the United States.
Iran let four detained Americans transfer from Tehran’s Evin jail to house arrest as a first step in what may be a difficult series of moves, according to the lawyer for one of them. A fifth was already being held inside their home.
According to the pact, some Iranians would be freed from US prisons, according to Iran’s UN delegation.
Businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Shargi, 58, as well as environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who also has British citizenship, were among the Iranian Americans who were permitted to leave the prison, according to Jared Genser, an attorney for Namazi.
Both the fourth and fifth Americans who were released from custody and placed under house arrest have not had their identities made public.
A key point of contention between Washington and Tehran would be resolved if the five were permitted to depart Iran, which could take weeks. These two countries continue to disagree on a number of topics, including Tehran’s support for local Shi’ite militias and its nuclear programme.
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Americans Placed Under House Arrest as Talks Persist
The five were all released from prison and placed under house arrest, according to Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. She added that they shouldn’t have been held in custody and that the White House wouldn’t have much more to say about the matter because negotiations for their eventual release “remain ongoing and are delicate.”
Iranian Americans are frequently used as pawns between the two countries because Tehran does not recognise their U.S. citizenship.
The six billion dollars in frozen Iranian cash in South Korea will be unfrozen before the five Americans are permitted to leave Iran, a source told Reuters.
The departure of American people from Iran could take weeks, according to a second person familiar with the negotiations; September was suggested as a potential departure date. He acknowledged that the deal might include unfreezing the funds.
He added that the money could only be utilized for humanitarian purposes, such as purchasing food or medicine, if it were transferred from South Korean banks to another financial institution because it would go from one restricted account to another.
According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, the money would first be translated from South Korean won to euros before being wired to a Qatari account.
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Source: Reuters
