Five American hostages jailed in Iran for years have been released and are on their way home to the United States. The release of the hostages came after a controversial swap mediated by Qatar, which involved $6 billion of Iranian funds held in South Korea being transferred to banks in Doha. This triggered the departure of the hostages on a chartered flight to Qatar’s capital, where they were met by senior US officials. They are now heading to Washington.
The Americans who were released include businessman Siamak Namazi, who has been imprisoned for nearly eight years, businessman Emad Shargi, and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who also holds British nationality. The US government has claimed that its citizens were imprisoned on baseless charges for political leverage.
As part of the swap deal, five Iranians imprisoned in the US on charges of violating US sanctions will also be granted clemency. Not all of them are expected to return to Iran. Iran has identified the individuals granted clemency as Reza Sarhangpour, Kambiz Attar Kashani, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, Mehrdad Moein Ansari, and Amin Hasanzadeh.
Upon their arrival in Doha, US President Joe Biden expressed his gratitude and relief, stating that all five hostages had endured “years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering.” He also announced fresh US sanctions on the former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian ministry of intelligence for their involvement in wrongful detentions.
Siamak Namazi, one of the released hostages, thanked everyone who had worked tirelessly for his freedom and praised President Biden for making difficult decisions to rescue them.
The deal comes after months of indirect talks mediated by Qatar, with at least nine rounds of discussions taking place. Iranian-born Professor Mehran Kamrava, who now teaches at Georgetown University in Qatar, described the deal as a win for both sides, allowing Biden to bring Americans home and offering Iran the release of its citizens imprisoned in the US. The transfer of $6 billion to Iran was seen as a significant victory for the country.
The funds from Iran will be strictly controlled and used for humanitarian transactions, including food, medicine, agriculture, and paid to third party vendors on a transaction-by-transaction basis. These funds were separate from Iranian assets frozen by sanctions and had been available to Iran for bilateral and non-sanctioned aid but had not been spent for various reasons.
However, leading US Republicans have criticized the deal, denouncing it as a ransom payment and sanctions relief. The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, accused the US government of transferring funds to “the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism.”
While there is relief that some prisoners have been released, there are concerns about the potential for more individuals to be seized in the future. Several other dual nationals remain imprisoned in Tehran, and some view the Iranian government as a hostage-taking government that uses people as leverage against the West.
Qatar hopes that this rare cooperation will help catalyze progress on other long-standing disputes, including reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. However, Iran is expected to maintain strategic enmity with the US as long as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains in power.
President Biden has faced calls to bring the American hostages home, and their release comes as a significant victory for his administration. However, there are still concerns about the continued detention of dual nationals in Iran, and efforts will likely continue to secure their release.