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Washington: The US and Iran have freed five detainees each in a controversial prisoner swap involving the unfreezing by the Biden administration of $6bn (£4.8bn) of Iranian oil money.
In an elaborate and delicate diplomatic deal, months in the making, the five Americans – some held for nearly a decade – were taken from hotels in Tehran to a plane that flew to Qatar, before heading back to Washington.
“Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home,” Joe Biden said in a statement. The US president added that they “will soon be reunited with their loved ones – after enduring years of agony, uncertainty and suffering”.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he had spoken to the freed US citizens by telephone in what he said was “an emotional conversation”.
Among the prisoners is the conservationist Morad Tahbaz, a British-American citizen. Iranian state media confirmed on Monday afternoon that five Iranian citizens imprisoned in the US – mostly for sanctions-busting offences – had also been released. Only two of the five released Iranians have chosen to return to Iran.
Qatar has been acting as mediator for the deal, commencing with the electronic transfer of the Iranian cash to bank accounts in Qatar and Switzerland. The prisoners were allowed to board the plane only after the cash transfer was completed. Apart from Tahbaz, the identities of only two other Americans have been made public.
It is not clear if the deal will lead to a wider diplomatic breakthrough, or a new, less ambitious route to constrain Iran’s civil nuclear programme, in which Tehran agrees to lower its stocks of highly enriched uranium.
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