US, Iran Release Prisoners In $6bn Swap Deal

The United States and Iran on Monday swapped five prisoners each in one of the arch-foes’ first deals in years as Tehran gained access to $6 billion in frozen funds.

The five Americans freed by Iran, including one held for eight years, flew out of Tehran in a Qatari jet, hours after the unblocked funds were deposited in accounts also managed by Qatar.

The freed prisoners walked in the setting sun on the tarmac and within hours a separate US government plane shuttled them to Washington, where some will undergo medical check-ups.

The White House said Biden held an “emotional call” with families of the released prisoners, one of whom praised the president for taking the “incredibly difficult decisions” that freed them.

“Thank you, President Biden, for ultimately putting the lives of American citizens above politics,” Siamak Namazi, a businessman held since 2015, said in a statement.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted the Biden administration had “no higher priority” than freeing US citizens.

“It’s very good to be able to say that our fellow citizens are free,” Blinken told reporters in New York, where he and Biden are taking part in UN meetings.

Two of the Iranian detainees returned to Tehran after transiting Doha, Iranian official media said. The other three released by the United States have opted to remain there or in a third country.

Following quiet discussions led in part by Qatar, the two countries completed the exchange after the transfer of $6 billion in funds, frozen by US ally South Korea.

The Biden administration has rejected criticism at home that it was paying “ransom,” insisting the money will be used only for humanitarian purposes, with a threat to re-freeze the funds if not.

But Iran has insisted it has full access.

The money “cruelly blocked until now and currently in the possession of the Islamic republic belongs to the people (of Iran) and we will use them to meet the people’s needs,” President Ebrahim Raisi said in New York.