5 Prisoners Freed in U.S. Swap With Iran, Arrive in Qatar

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran were freed Monday and headed home as part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen.

Despite the deal, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in various disputes, including over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

The planned exchange has unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.

“Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home,” President Joe Biden said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar.

After the plane slowed to a stop, three of the prisoners walked down the ramp and were greeted by the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis. The former prisoners hugged the ambassador and others.

The three — Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz — then wrapped their arms around their shoulders and walked off to a building in the airport.

In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said: “I would not be free today, if it wasn’t for all of you who didn’t allow the world to forget me.”

“Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison,” Namazi said.

In addition to the five freed Americans, two U.S. family members flew out of Tehran, according to a senior Biden administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity when the exchange was ongoing.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the exchange would take place Monday after nearly $6 billion in once-frozen Iranian assets reached Qatar.

“On the subject of the prisoner swap, it will happen today and five prisoners, citizens of the Islamic Republic, will be released from the prisons in the U.S.,” he added. “Five imprisoned citizens who were in Iran will be given to the U.S. side.”

He said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S. Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Iran’s security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners had arrived in Doha for the swap.

Mohammad Reza Farzin, Iran’s Central Bank chief, later came on a state broadcast to acknowledge the receipt of over 5.5 billion euros — $5.9 billion — in accounts in Qatar. Months ago, Iran had anticipated getting as much as $7 billion.

The planned exchange comes ahead of the convening of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York, where Iran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi will speak.

The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his reelection campaign as well.

In his statement, Biden urged Americans not to travel to Iran, and he demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. Biden also announced sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.

The prisoners freed Monday were: Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence. All of their charges have been widely criticized by their families, activists and the U.S. government.

U.S. officials have declined to identify the two other released prisoners.

In a statement, Sharghi’s sister, Neda, said: “This is my brother, not an abstract policy,” she added. “We are talking about human lives. There is nothing partisan about saving the lives of innocent Americans and today should be a moment of American unity as we welcome them home.”

The five prisoners Iran has said it seeks are mostly held over allegedly trying to export banned material to Iran, such as dual use electronics that can be used by a military.