Eurasia Press & News
Under a detainee deal negotiated between Washington and Tehran, several US citizens imprisoned in Iran have been transferred to house arrest in a step toward their full release.
Iran has transferred five US citizens held in Evin Prison to house arrest as part of a long-awaited deal that would involve Tehran gaining limited access to frozen funds and a release of prisoners on both sides.
A spokesperson for the Iranian mission said the Americans’ transfer was part of a “humanitarian cooperation agreement” mediated by a third-party government.
“Iran and the US have agreed to reciprocally release and pardon five prisoners,” the mission confirmed to Al-Monitor on Thursday. “The transfer of these prisoners to out of prison marks a significant initial step in the implementation of this agreement.”
Dual nationals Morad Tahbaz, Siamak Namazi and Emad Shargi were moved from Evin Prison in the Iranian capital, Tehran, Thursday to house arrest at a hotel, according to a statement by the Namazi family’s lawyer, Jared Genser.
The imprisoned Americans had been held for years on spying charges that the US government and their families said were baseless. Two other dual nationals, whose identities have not been made public at their families’ request, are also part of the deal.
The release of the five Americans was confirmed by State Department spokesperson Matt Miller Thursday afternoon.
“We continue to work diligently to bring these individuals home to their loved ones. They must be allowed to depart Iran and reunite with their loved ones as soon as possible,” Miller said in a statement.
A source familiar with the negotiations said no Iranian prisoners held in the United States have been released in exchange for the US citizens moved to house arrest.
The news comes more than two years after the United States and Iran began indirect talks over a prisoner swap using interlocutors including Oman, Qatar and the United Kingdom.
For months, it appeared the negotiators were nearing an agreement. Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, whose country has long served as a mediator between the United States and Iran, told Al-Monitor in a June 14 interview that the two sides were “close” to reaching a deal on the prisoners.
As part of the agreement, Tehran is expected to gain access to some $6 billion in Iranian funds held in South Korean banks under US sanctions that will be transferred to a bank in Qatar. The negotiated arrangement would permit Iran to access those funds for humanitarian purposes only, sources said.
Late Thursday, Iran’s chief negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, confirmed that the release of the Americans was linked to Iran’s frozen assets.
“The process of releasing billions of dollars of Iranian assets, illegally seized by the U.S. for several years, has commenced,” Kani said in a tweet. “Tehran has received the guarantee of Washington’s commitments.”
The transfer of Iran’s frozen funds as part of the prisoner deal is politically sensitive in Washington. Republicans charge the transfer of Iranian assets, even if for humanitarian purposes, could fuel further hostage taking.
“While I welcome home wrongfully detained Americans, unfreezing $6B in #Iranian assets dangerously further incentivizes hostage taking & provides a windfall for regime aggression,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said in a tweet Thursday.
The jailing of foreigners and dual citizens is widely seen as a way for Iran to gain leverage in negotiations for frozen assets, sanctions relief and other concessions. On Thursday, Babak Namazi said he is counting the days until his brother Siamak, the longest-held American prisoner in Iran, is returned home.
“We have suffered tremendously and indescribably for eight horrific years and wish only to be reunited again as a family,” Namazi said in a statement.
Siamak Namazi was the only American of six not returned home as part of a detainee swap negotiated by the Obama administration in 2016. After more than six years in Iranian custody, his father, Baquer Namazi, was freed from house arrest in October so that he could receive urgent medical treatment abroad.
Neda Sharghi, sister of US citizen Emad Shargi, said in a statement, “My family has faith in the work that President Biden and government officials have undertaken to bring our families home and hope to receive that news soon. Until that point, I hope you can understand that we do not think it will be helpful to comment further.”
Shargi, a businessman, and Tahbaz, a conservationist and entrepreneur who also holds British citizenship, were jailed in 2018. Each was sentenced to 10 years in prison on trumped-up espionage charges.
Iran is also holding several permanent US residents including retired shipping captain Shahab Dalili and Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German citizen on death row. Sources with knowledge of the US-Iran negotiations said they were left out of the deal, despite appeals from their families.
