Iran, US agree to swap prisoners in ‘5 to 5’ format
IRNA notes that the Iranian mission has also confirmed the release of five US citizens from Tehran’s Evin Prison
DUBAI, August 10. /TASS/. The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN has stated that Tehran and Washington had reached an agreement on a prisoner swap in a "5 to 5" format, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
"According to the agreement reached with a mediation by a third country, five Iranian citizens imprisoned in the United States will be freed," its statement said. The news agency notes that the Iranian mission has also confirmed the release of five US citizens from Tehran’s Evin Prison.
The news agency reports that within the framework of the agreement, Iran will obtain access to $6 bln frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions. "Iran’s assets, frozen in South Korea, will be unblocked and transferred to Qatar," IRNA specified.
On Thursday, Jared Genser, the lawyer for one of the US citizens, told CNN that Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and another prisoner whose name was not being disclosed had been transferred from jail to house arrest in one Tehran’s hotels. Later, the White House said that five US citizens had been transferred, Namazi, Shargi, Tahbaz and two more people who wished to remain anonymous.
Iran has repeatedly stated its readiness to hold a prisoner swap with the US but insisted that this issue be reviewed separately from the nuclear dossier. In June, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanani Chafi said that Washington and Tehran were close to agreeing on the swap.
Previously, it was thought that three US citizens, Namazi, Shargi and Tahbaz, were remaining in captivity in Iran. According to Ali Bagheri Kani, current political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, the US is holding about 15 Iranian citizens accused of attempting to circumvent US sanctions.
Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer Namazi were convicted in Iran for "relations with a hostile state" in 2016. Namazi Sr. was later released for medical treatment. Tahbaz was sentenced in 2019 to 10 years in jail for ties with the US government while Shargi received 10 year in prison in 2021 for espionage.