Iran, US reach deal: Convicted US spies for jailed Iranians, assets
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The New York Times says the United States will unfreeze $6 billion frozen in South Korea in the upcoming few weeks.
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An Iranian flag raised in Vienna, Austria (AFP)
Washington has reached an agreement with Iran to release unlawfully frozen assets of Iranian oil revenue in exchange for the release of five individuals carrying dual US-Iranian citizenship imprisoned by the Islamic Republic on charges of spying for foreign "hostile states", the New York Times reported on Thursday citing sources familiar with the matter.
The United States will also release a number of Iranian prisoners as part of the deal, the news outlet said citing sources, adding that the agreement, which took shape in the past few months, was mediated by Oman, Qatar, and Switzerland and is awaiting logistical preparations.
Iranian Tasnim News Agency confirmed that a deal was reached, whereby "American prisoners will be released in exchange for the release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks estimated at $6 billion."
However, the Iranian agency cited informed sources as saying that the American prisoners will not be released before Iran's frozen funds in South Korea are transferred to Qatar.
On its part, IRNA said, citing an informed source, that the deal calls for the release of five American prisoners in exchange for the release of 5 Iranian prisoners in the United States and $6 billion of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea.
The Iranian agency indicated that "a large part of the released Iranian funds will be deposited in the Iraqi TBI Bank," pointing out that the first stages of the process of releasing Iranian funds in European banks have already begun.
IRNA also revealed that Iran's frozen assets in South Korea will be transferred, after their release, to a bank in Switzerland, and from there to Qatar.
Moreover, Iran's mission at the United Nations confirmed Thursday the transfer of American prisoners out of Tehran's Evin prison, state media reported.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran's mission at the United Nations confirmed the news of the release of dual-citizen prisoners from Tehran's Evin Prison," IRNA reported.
It said their release was secured through an agreement mediated "by a third party", with each side "granting amnesty and releasing five prisoners."
According to NYT's report, Iran has moved the US nationals from Evin Prison and placed them under house arrest in a hotel in Tehran following a two-year quit negotiations with Washington.
White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson confirmed that Iran has released the five persons in question from prison and placed them under house arrest, adding that talks on their eventual release continue.
“We have received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans ... and has placed them on house arrest,” Watson said in a statement.
Negotiations for the five Americans’ release remain ongoing and “delicate", the statement added.
Six billion dollars of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea will be deposited as per the agreement in the central bank of Qatar and would then be released in the next 4-6 weeks as sanction-exemption papers are finalized, the newspaper added.
Read more: Iran to have access to $6.7 billion of its IMF funds
But Iran's access to the funds will be regulated by Doha, during which it can only use the cash to buy humanitarian products such as medicine and food, NYT claimed.
The prisoners are Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi, and Morad Tahbaz, in addition to two others, a scientist and a businessperson, whose names were not disclosed as per their families' request.
Now, the convicted spies await the final approval to be flown to another country - most likely Qatar - said Namazi's lawyer, Jared Genser.
“I hope that this means that Siamak Namazi and the other prisoners" will be finally released, "but I won’t be celebrating until the plane takes off from Tehran,” Genser said.
“All I can say is that I am more optimistic now than I’ve ever been.”
