American detainees in Iran put under house arrest ahead of scheduled prisoner exchange.
OAN’s Brooke Mallory
3:24 PM – Thursday, August 10, 2023
House Arrest for Americans Detained in Iran
According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, five Americans detained in Iran have been placed under house arrest. This move is the first step in a planned prisoner exchange between Tehran and Washington, D.C. The exchange will also involve the release of approximately $6 billion in Iranian government assets blocked under U.S. sanctions.
If the proposed deal is approved, Iran will be able to use the cash exclusively to purchase food, medicine, or other humanitarian items, in compliance with existing U.S. sanctions against the nation.
Under the arrangement, Qatar’s central bank would monitor the cash, a process that could take weeks to implement.
The negotiations for this new agreement have been ongoing for months, with Qatar and other nations serving as intermediaries.
On Thursday, several of the arrested Americans were transferred from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison to a location in the city’s capital, where they will remain under house arrest until the prisoner exchange occurs.
According to sources, one of the Americans was already under house arrest before Thursday. In the past, Americans and other foreign convicts about to be released were placed under house arrest before being transferred abroad.
U.S. authorities have identified Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, and Morad Tahbaz as the three American citizens imprisoned in Iran. The White House National Security Council has also confirmed that two more Americans are imprisoned in Iran, but their families have chosen not to publicly identify them.
“We have received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans who were unjustly detained and has placed them on house arrest,” said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
“While this is an encouraging step, these U.S. citizens — Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi, and two Americans who at this time wish to remain private — should have never been detained in the first place.”
America “will not rest until they are all back home in the United States,” Watson said.
“Until that time, negotiations for their eventual release remain ongoing and are delicate. We will, therefore, have little in the way of details to provide about the state of their house arrest or about our efforts to secure their freedom,” she added.
An unknown number of permanent legal residents, or green card holders, are being jailed in Iran, including Shahab Dalili, who has been detained since 2016. Only U.S. citizens appear to be involved in the prisoner swap.
“While I hope this will be the first step to their ultimate release, this is at best the beginning of the end and nothing more. But there are simply no guarantees about what happens from here,” said Jared Genser, pro bono counsel for Namazi.
The families of Americans detained in Iran claim that their loved ones are being held as “hostages” on false accusations and used as bargaining chips by the regime.
Human rights groups assert that Iran has been kidnapping hostages for decades, using foreign detainees as leverage against other nations. However, Iran denies these accusations and insists that the foreign visitors were treated in accordance with the country’s laws.
In addition to exchanging inmates imprisoned in both nations, the prisoner swap agreement includes the release of around $6 billion blocked in South Korean institutions due to U.S. sanctions.
From 2012 until 2019, Washington, D.C., allowed South Korea and other nations to purchase Iranian oil but prevented Tehran from accessing the earnings. Iran could only use the cash for authorized humanitarian purchases. The Iranian regime has long sought access to the funds in exchange for the release of detained Americans.
“This was not an account that was ever intended to be frozen for all time for any purpose. It was always meant to be available for non-sanctionable trade,” said another insider source.
If the funds in South Korea are released, President Joe Biden will likely face criticism.
Officials from the administration will probably argue that the cash can only be used for humanitarian purposes and that it was the only option to secure the release of the jailed Americans, some of whom had little chance of being freed after years of captivity.
Reports suggest that an undisclosed number of Iranians arrested in the United States will be transported from U.S. custody to Iran as part of the swap.
Aside from Qatar, the governments of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq acted as mediators in the discussions, according to one insider familiar with the conversations.
Switzerland, which handles U.S. interests in Iran since Washington, D.C., has no diplomatic relations with Tehran, will assist in implementing the agreement, and the Swiss ambassador is expected to have access to the American inmates while they are under house arrest.
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