Joe Biden announces return of detainees as US in turn frees five Iranians under controversial agreement
have freed five detainees each in a controversial prisoner swap involving the unfreezing by the Biden administration of $6bn of Iranian oil money.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he had spoken to the freed US citizens by telephone in what he said was “an emotional conversation”., a British-American citizen. Iranian state media confirmed on Monday afternoon that five Iranian citizens imprisoned in the US – mostly for sanctions-busting offences – were also released. Only two of the five released Iranians have chosen to return to Iran.
Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, said on Monday that the release of the detainees by Tehran was “purely a humanitarian action … in the future other humanitarian actions can be taken”. Last week, three European countries, including the UK, accused Iran of building stocks of highly enriched uranium that could have no possible civilian purpose.
The path to the swap reached a turning point recently when the state department agreed a waiver facilitating the release of the cash from South Korean banks to accounts in Switzerland and Doha.
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