US Allows Release of $6 Billion to Iran Before Prisoner Swap

[yota691]

America releases frozen Iranian assets abroad.. Will the Iraqi electricity crisis be solved?

Arabic and international |Today, 16:45 |

    

 

 

 

Baghdad today - follow-up

An Iranian official revealed, today, Friday, that the United States of America has allowed the release of two billion dollars from frozen Iranian assets abroad, while the Iranian authorities hope to obtain more than 6 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund, in circumstances in which the economy suffers from an acute shortage of foreign exchange at the time. The background of the US sanctions, amid questions about whether part of these funds relate to debts owed by Iraq, which needs Iranian gas releases.

A member of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Ali Shariati, said in a tweet on “Twitter” that “during the next week (on Monday), two billion dollars will be paid from the rest of the frozen Iranian balances in order to purchase basic commodities,” noting that “the funds that have been released until today have not been were not frozen stocks in South Korea."

 

 

 

Shariati concluded his tweet by saying, "We are approaching the main step," without naming it or revealing it, but it is likely that either an agreement will be reached with Washington to revive the nuclear agreement in light of the recent high level of optimism, following the visit of Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq to Tehran, last Sunday and Monday. His country is a major mediator between Iran and the United States of America. Or he means the possibility of reaching a prisoner exchange deal between Tehran and Washington soon, in light of the emergence of a number of data regarding that, finally, according to which more than $ 7 billion will be released, the volume of Iranian frozen assets in South Korea, which are the revenues of Iran's oil exports to it before Washington imposed sanctions. strict on Tehran as of May 2018.

Shariati had also spoken a few days ago that the Iranian government had finally paid the dues of Turkmenistan for gas exports to Iran, through part of its frozen balances with the Iraqi "TBI" bank.

He added that Iran paid Turkmenistan $1.6 billion of that money at the Iraqi Bank, noting that it had also paid $600 million to Saudi Arabia for the costs of its pilgrimages from those balances.

Tehran does not announce the size of its assets abroad, which have been frozen by countries that have trade relations with Iran due to US sanctions and pressure. This money is mainly the proceeds of its oil exports during the past years, after the signing of the nuclear agreement in 2015.

There are conflicting numbers about the size of these funds, from 40 billion dollars to more than 100 billion dollars, of which about 18 billion dollars are in Iraq, 3 billion dollars in Japan, and 7 billion dollars in South Korea.

Iran has tried a lot in various ways, during the past years, to release its money abroad, but its attempts and pressures on these countries, especially South Korea and Iraq, were not crowned with success in facing the pressures that these countries are exposed to from the United States to avoid that.

However, during the last two years, Washington has allowed the gradual release of some frozen Iranian assets abroad, in the context of managing the crisis with Tehran, and preventing the situation from escalating.

Facilities from the IMF

Meanwhile, the Iranian government is seeking to obtain resources from the International Monetary Fund to reduce the severity of the foreign exchange crisis it is facing, which contributed to raising monthly inflation to record rates two months ago, after it approached 70%.

And the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin, began visiting Washington, last Tuesday, in a visit that is the first of its kind in decades, and it is continuing, in order to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund to obtain financial facilities.

 

 

Potential oil investment between Saudi Arabia and Iran

In remarks reported by Iranian media, Farzin said that Iran could obtain $6.7 billion to support its economic situation "quickly and with the least administrative protocols."

During the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, the previous Iranian government had sought to obtain facilities from the IMF, but its efforts failed in light of an American refusal to do so.

The visit of the Omani Sultan, and news of the release of Iranian assets abroad, as well as the possibility of obtaining facilities from the International Monetary Fund, contributed to a slight improvement of the Iranian riyal against the dollar, which recorded 505 thousand riyals yesterday, Thursday, compared to 520 thousand riyals in previous trading.

[horsesoldier]

O'Biden strikes again 

[yota691]

British newspaper reveals American-Iranian meetings in New York

2023.06.03 - 12:40

 

Baghdad - people  

The Financial Times revealed meetings between the US special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, and Saeed Erwani, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, citing well-informed diplomats and analysts.  

  

  

  

A source close to the US government told the Financial Times (June 3, 2023) that these talks were mainly about the possibility of a prisoner exchange.  

  

According to this report, the United States and the European Union have begun talks on how to deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program. A well-informed diplomat indicated that the prisoner exchange is a prelude to dealing with Iran, saying that a nuclear deal is unlikely, but there is a possibility for a temporary understanding.  

  

A Western diplomat stressed the need for an active diplomatic plan to deal with Iran's nuclear program, telling the Financial Times: "The decisions of Iranian officials are surrounded by chaos and could lead Tehran to war with Israel."  

  

The Financial Times reported, citing well-informed diplomats and analysts, that some of the available options for dealing with Iran's nuclear program could be a kind of interim deal and downgrade measures aimed at reducing the level of enrichment in return for the reduction of some sanctions.  

  

Meanwhile, a European diplomat told The Times of Israel, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency's report on settling the disputed issue with Iran: "The parties are not about to return to the nuclear deal or any other agreement, but I think this is the beginning of the consultation." The stress relief process.  

[yota691]

Agency: $24 billion of frozen Iranian assets in Iraq and South Korea will be released

2023-06-06 08:25

 

 

Shafaq News / The semi-official Iranian Students News Agency "ISNA", on Tuesday, stated that $24 billion of Iranian frozen assets in Iraq and South Korea will be released through the resources available to Iran in the International Monetary Fund.

 

According to the agency, out of this total figure, it includes 7 billion dollars of Iranian financial receivables frozen in South Korea, and more than 10 billion dollars of them are due to Iranian frozen resources in Iraq, most of which are due to the export of energy to this neighboring country.

 

 

It stated that after the visit of the Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq to Iran and the visit of US President Joe Biden's advisor to the Sultanate of Oman, it was decided that the frozen Iranian assets be released within an agreement with Iran.

 

It was also decided, after the meeting of the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin, with Christina Georgina, CEO of the International Monetary Fund, that Iran would be able to obtain more than $ 6.7 billion from its special drawing rights, according to the agency.

 

And previously, a member of the Joint Chamber of Commerce between Iran and Iraq, Ali Shariati, announced the release of two billion dollars of Iranian assets frozen until yesterday, Monday.

[southbeach]

Beginning to think Saudi Arabia will insert Iran into the Gulf Cooperation Council next.

[screwball]

15 hours ago, southbeach said:

Beginning to think Saudi Arabia will insert Iran into the Gulf Cooperation Council next.

yep

[yota691]

Iran releases 5 Americans from prison...and a newspaper reveals the "price"

2023.08.10 - 21:07

 

Baghdad - people  

A spokesman for the US National Security Council said today, Thursday, that the United States has obtained confirmation that Iran has released five American detainees from prison, but they are still under house arrest, and added that talks are underway for their final release.   

 

In addition, the New York Times reported that the United States and Iran had reached an agreement to release 5 American prisoners in exchange for several Iranian prisoners, and to unfreeze about $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues, according to several people familiar with the deal.  

  

The prisoners are Siamak Namazi, Imad Chergui and Mourad Tahbaz, who were all imprisoned on espionage charges, as well as two others whose families have withheld their names.  

  

According to the source, one of the Americans, whose identity has not been revealed, is a scientist and the other a businessman, according to two people who were briefed on the release arrangements.  

  

The newspaper revealed that the three aforementioned prisoners and one other person were transferred on Thursday from Evin Prison, one of the most notorious detention centers in Iran, to a hotel in the capital, Tehran, where they will be held for several weeks until they are allowed to board a plane.  

  

In addition, another prisoner, an American, was released from house arrest at her home earlier, said Jared Genser, Namazi's lawyer.  

  

The price of the Iranian move  

  

Biden administration officials refused to confirm details of what Iran would get in return. But people familiar with the agreement said that when Americans are allowed to return to the United States, the Biden administration will release a group of Iranian citizens who are serving prison sentences for violating sanctions on Iran.  

  

The United States will also unfreeze nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets in South Korea and put the money into an account at Qatar's central bank, according to people familiar with the deal.  

[yota691]

Opponents describe it as 'extortion'.

A “positive step.” This is how the Biden administration considered the deal with Tehran

2023.08.11 - 15:07

 

Baghdad - people  

Iran has confirmed that the method of disbursing the frozen funds that it is supposed to receive in exchange for the release of 5 American prisoners will be determined at the discretion of the authorities in Tehran. On the other hand, many officials and political figures in America protested against this deal, describing it as "extortion" and concession to the hostage-takers.  

 

And the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced, referring to the agreement with the United States to release American prisoners in exchange for the release of frozen funds, that Tehran "has received the necessary guarantee of America's commitment to the agreement."  

  

She added that how to use the released financial resources and assets is at the disposal of the Islamic Republic, and these resources will be spent on the various needs of the country as determined by the competent authorities.  

  

The New York Times had published a report in which it stated that Tehran would receive six billion dollars in withheld assets for "humanitarian purposes" in exchange for the release of the five American prisoners.  

  

On the other hand, the "Nour News" page of the National Security Council on the X website wrote, referring to the prisoner exchange agreement: "Months ago, the Islamic Republic began indirect dialogues" in this field for humanitarian reasons, but because of the American political approach it took a long time. Because of linking unrelated issues, but things are changing now."  

  

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described the transfer of these five US citizens to house arrest as a "positive step" and indicated at the same time that the sanctions imposed on Iran would not be eased. He said Washington would continue to apply all sanctions against Tehran.  

  

Blinken stressed that the United States will continue to "firmly" confront Iran's "destabilizing" activities in the region and beyond.  

  

In a statement, a spokesman for the US National Security Council confirmed the transfer of Siamak Namazi, Murad Tahbaz, Imad Sharqi and two other prisoners, who asked not to reveal their identities, from prison to house arrest.  

  

As Robert Malley wrote in his X account: “The transfer of five American citizens in Iran from prison to house arrest is only the first step, and every day that they are deprived of their liberty is a very long time. I know that my colleagues will not rest until the prisoners are returned home.” ".  

  

On the other hand, this agreement was opposed by various US officials and political figures, as US Republican Senator Tom Cotton announced, in a statement, that the release of American prisoners in return for paying $6 billion is an “imaginary appeasement” that will only lead to the “mullahs” detaining more prisoners. hostages."  

  

The Republican senator added that the financing of terrorism, the arming of Russia, and the actions of the Islamic Republic regime against American forces will continue, until Joe Biden stops "dancing to the tune of Iran."  

  

Iranian activist Masih Alinejad said: The Biden government paid a heavy price for the release of Americans imprisoned in Iran, and there is no guarantee that other Americans will not be held hostage there. Biden should clarify and tell the American people what the Iranian regime got from this agreement.  

  

The former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, confirmed that: "The release of six billion dollars for the thugs of the Tehran regime in exchange for the transfer of American hostages from one prison to another is a terrible deal." Iran should not take advantage of holding Americans hostage."  

  

Meanwhile, the adviser to the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, Muhammad Marandi, rejected reports that the funds liberated for the purchase of food and medicine were only recovered through Qatari companies.  

  

Marandi wrote in a tweet: Iran has full and direct access to all its freed assets and there is no intermediary Qatari company.  

  

And the assistant to the Iranian president for political affairs, Mohammad Jamshidi, said: After the release of Iran's funds in Iraq, the process of releasing all Iranian assets in South Korea also began. Until this money is fully transferred, the American prisoners will remain in Iran.  

[yota691]

Iraq enters the Iranian-American agreement

• Time: 08/10/2023 22:14:56
•  
• Read: 4,667 times

  

{International: Al-Furat News} The Iranian News Agency confirmed today, Thursday, that Iranian funds will be released from the Trade Bank of Iraq as part of the deal with Washington.

 The agency said, "The agreement with Washington includes the release of $10 billion in South Korea and Iraq."
And she added, "A sum of Tehran's frozen funds in a European bank has actually begun to be released."
The New York Times reported that the United States and Iran had reached an agreement to secure the release of five American prisoners in exchange for several imprisoned Iranians and to unfreeze nearly $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues.
She added that, as a first step in implementing the agreement, Tehran had released people with dual US and Iranian nationalities who had previously been accused of espionage and are currently under house arrest.

[yota691]

He revealed the details of the release of $10 billion of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea and Iraq

2023-08-11 05:05

 

Shafaq News/ Today, Friday, official Iranian media revealed the details of the agreement reached by Iran with the United States of America under the auspices of a third country, which provides for the exchange of prisoners between the two countries and the release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea and Iraq.

 

The official Iranian News Agency, IRNA, quoted an official source familiar with this agreement as saying, “This agreement requires Iran to release 5 American prisoners in exchange for the release of 5 Iranian prisoners in the United States of America.”

 

He explained that "in addition to that, 6 billion dollars of Iranian money frozen in South Korea will be released, along with a large part also of Iranian money in the Iraqi TBI Bank," noting that "the first stages of the process of releasing Iranian money in European banks have begun." ".

 

Also, according to this source, it is scheduled that in this context, Iran's money in South Korea will be transferred from the "won" (South Korean currency) to the euro, which has been done and then it will be transferred to a bank in Switzerland and from there to a bank account in Qatar. To be available to Iran to collect this money.

 

The source noted that the American prisoners will not be released until the Iranian money is completely transferred to Qatar.

 

He also indicated that the prisoner exchange process will take place in Qatar after Iran verifies its ability to withdraw its money from an Iranian account in Qatar.

 

Meanwhile, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding the Iranian-American agreement on the exchange of prisoners and the release of Iranian funds frozen by the United States of America.

 

"The process of releasing billions of dollars of Iranian money illegally confiscated by the United States in South Korea for several years has begun," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, noting that "necessary guarantees have been obtained for America to fulfill its obligations in this regard."

 

The statement pointed out that "the issue of releasing the frozen funds of the Islamic Republic of Iran and removing restrictions imposed on its financial resources, which were illegally blocked and confiscated, or even difficult to access due to foreign banks' fears of repressive US sanctions, has always been on the agenda of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

 

The statement stated that "the method of using these frozen funds after their release will be at the disposal of Iran, which will be spent by the competent authorities in the manner it deems appropriate to meet the various needs of the country."

[yota691]

Iran receives part of its frozen funds in Iraq

2023-08-21 07:20

Shafaq News/ The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, confirmed today, Monday, that part of the Iranian funds frozen in Iraq had been received.

 

Fares news agency quoted Kanaani as saying, "There is part of our assets in Iraq, which were difficult to obtain due to American interventions. Some of these assets have been transferred and are now under implementation." 

 

"The government will not give up the people's rights anywhere, and will continue this path, step by step," Kanaani added.

 

He did not indicate the amount of money and the way it was obtained.

 

On August 11, official Iranian media revealed the details of the agreement reached by Tehran with the United States of America under the auspices of a third country, which provides for the exchange of prisoners between the two countries and the release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea and Iraq.

 

The official Iranian News Agency, "IRNA", quoted an official source familiar with this agreement, as saying, "This agreement requires Iran to release 5 American prisoners in exchange for the release of 5 Iranian prisoners in the United States of America."

 

He explained that "in addition to that, 6 billion dollars of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea will be released, along with a large part also of Iranian funds in the Iraqi TBI Bank," noting that "the first stages of the process of releasing Iranian funds in European banks have begun." ".

 

On July 11, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani announced Baghdad’s contact with the US regarding the payment of Iran’s dues for Iraq’s gas imports, amounting to 9 billion and 250 million euros, adding that Iraq had paid “up to one billion and 842 million euros in the seven-month period of The life of the government according to the agreed mechanism.

 

Al-Sudani added that a delegation from the Central Bank of Iraq and the Iraqi Trade Bank left Iraq for the Sultanate of Oman with the aim of "agreeing on a formula for transferring these funds to the Sultanate of Oman in agreement with the US Treasury."  

[yota691]

7 times more.. Iran announces the release of its money withheld in Iraq

2023-08-25 05:33

 

Shafaq News/ The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, on Friday, that within about a month, about 7 times the Iranian money held in Iraq was released.

 

The political assistant to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, said in an interview with the Iranian semi-official "Mehr" agency, that: With the exception of South Korea, part of our money is also in Iraq.

 

He added, "In the understanding that we concluded with the American side about Iran's money held in South Korea, the issue of Iran's money in Iraq was also raised, and its release began."

 

Bagheri Kani added, "Since the past three weeks, we have been able to release nearly 7 times the total money that we used in Iraq last year, in the process of economic activities, and of course we expect an acceleration of the liberation process."

 

On August 11, official Iranian media revealed the details of the agreement reached by Tehran with the United States of America under the auspices of a third country, which provides for the exchange of prisoners between the two countries and the release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea and Iraq.

 

The official Iranian News Agency, "IRNA", quoted an official source familiar with this agreement, as saying, "This agreement requires Iran to release 5 American prisoners in exchange for the release of 5 Iranian prisoners in the United States of America."

 

He explained that "in addition to that, 6 billion dollars of Iranian funds frozen in South Korea will be released, along with a large part also of Iranian funds in the Iraqi TBI Bank," noting that "the first stages of the process of releasing Iranian funds in European banks have begun." ".

 

On July 11, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani announced Baghdad’s contact with the US regarding the payment of Iran’s dues for Iraq’s gas imports, amounting to 9 billion and 250 million euros, adding that Iraq had paid “up to one billion and 842 million euros in the seven-month period of The life of the government according to the agreed mechanism.

 

Al-Sudani added that a delegation from the Central Bank of Iraq and the Iraqi Trade Bank left Iraq for the Sultanate of Oman with the aim of "agreeing on a formula for transferring these funds to the Sultanate of Oman in agreement with the US Treasury."

[yota691]

US Allows Release of $6 Billion to Iran Before Prisoner Swap

• Biden agrees to let five Iranians in custody go free
• Agreement is part of broader diplomatic effort with Iran

 

 

By Courtney McBride

September 11, 2023 at 4:11 PM EDT

Updated on 

September 12, 2023 at 7:26 AM EDT

The US cleared the way for $6 billion in oil proceeds to be returned to Iran and agreed to release five Iranians as part of a secretly negotiated deal that will clear the way for five American citizens detained in Iran to return home.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Congress on Monday of a waiver that will let German, Irish, Qatari, South Korean and Swiss banks transfer the $6 billion from South Korea without fear of running afoul of US sanctions.

[yota691]

Tehran and Washington exchange detainees

The first  2023/09/13

 

 

  Tehran: Muhammad Saleh Sedqian 

 

An Iranian source revealed that the prisoner exchange deal between Tehran and Washington will take place within two weeks, indicating that there are positive indicators from the discussions that took place between Iran and the American side regarding the detained Iranian deposits.

 

Iranian presidential spokesman Ali Jahromi said in a statement yesterday, Tuesday, that “the process of transferring the detained Iranian deposits is going smoothly based on the understandings reached between Washington and Tehran, and they are on their way to Iranian bank accounts in Doha.” 

 

The Biden administration paved the way for the release of five American citizens imprisoned in Iran, as well as the US government’s approval of the release of five Iranian citizens who were detained in this country.

 

An informed Iranian source told Al-Sabah that “the detainee exchange deal is ready and will be implemented within the next two weeks, as the Iranian government will release five American citizens according to the agreement, in exchange for the release of five Iranian citizens.”

[yota691]

U.S., Iran swap prisoners after frozen Iranian funds released from S. Korea

[yota691]

Trump: “Fraud Biden” paid $6 billion to Iran in exchange for 5 people

Today, 11:36

 

Al-Ghad Press / Baghdad

Former US President Donald Trump criticized President Joe Biden for completing the prisoner exchange deal with Iran.

 

“ I brought home 58 hostages from many different countries, including North Korea, and paid absolutely nothing,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “They all understood that they had to let these people go home! And in the end ,  "It got to the point where countries didn't even start talking about asking for money, because they knew they wouldn't get it."

 

He added: “Once you pay once, you will always pay, and many hostages will be recovered. He gave “our extremely incompetent leader, the crook Joe Biden, $6 billion for five people, while Iran gave zero for five people... He is stupid.”

 

Trump described the deal as “ridiculous and sets a terrible precedent for the future,” adding: “Get ready, you are going to see some terrible things happen. The United States of America that was so respected 3 years ago has become a laughing stock all over the world. Make America great again. Vote for Trump.” !

 

It is noteworthy that the five Americans were released yesterday, Monday, as part of a prisoner exchange agreement, under which each side releases 5 prisoners, and also allows Iran to access $6 billion in oil revenues, which were frozen in South Korea.

 

The White House confirmed that the payment was not ransom, and stressed that American taxpayer money was not part of the deal, but Republicans remain critical of the agreement.

 

[yota691]

Washington threatens to stop the transfer of frozen Iranian funds

Yesterday, 17:46

 

Al-Ghad Press/Follow-up 
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby explained that his country can stop the transfer of frozen Iranian funds.

Kirby said, "The negotiations to reach an agreement with Iran extended over months of hard work carried out by the US State Department. We can stop the transfer of Iranian funds if Tehran uses them for inhumane purposes."

 

He added, "Washington does not view the agreement with Tehran as a type of confidence-building measure to establish better relations with it," pointing out that "the agreement does not represent any change in our policy toward Iran, and we are still dealing with its destabilizing behavior."

 

 

[yota691]

POSTED ON 2023-10-14 BY SOTALIRAQ

Details of the final moments of the deal to release 5 American prisoners in Iran

Zainab Makki
After years of painstaking negotiations with Iran, and with the mediation of the Arab Gulf states, senior aides to US President Joe Biden reached an agreement on June 6 that would release 4 Americans detained in one of the worst Iranian prisons. In return, the United States lifts the freeze on $6 billion. Dollars from Iranian oil revenues and charges against Iranians accused of violating US sanctions are dropped.

According to a report published by the New York Times, the American negotiators knew that there could still be obstacles at the last minute, but things were moving forward, and indeed the prison guards in Tehran gathered the Americans and took them to an office and asked them to pack their bags. Their release was imminent, they told them “they should be ready to return home within 3 days.”

But White House officials were about to receive some bad news when, just one day after the agreement was reached, they learned from the FBI that Iran had detained another American citizen, a retired woman from California who was doing relief work in Afghanistan.

It was not clear then, and even now, whether the woman's detention was a strategic decision or whether she was simply caught up in Iran's security net, a situation in which the country's left hand does not know what its right hand is doing.

Either way, US officials were enthusiastic, but there was no way Biden could sign a deal that would leave that woman behind. She had to be released, too.

Indeed, the deal collapsed, and the prisoners, who expected to return home any day, were frustrated. They expected that it would be several more weeks before American officials, still working in secret, got the talks back on track, with the help of diplomats in Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

When Biden finally announced last Monday that Americans - including the newly arrested woman - were on their way home, it was the culmination of years of delicate negotiations that focused not only on the release of prisoners, but also on efforts to deprive Fuse tensions with Iran and confront what the United States sees as Tehran's destabilizing activities across the Middle East.

“When all the pieces finally fall into place, there is a collective sigh of relief,” said the president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, “but until that moment we are all holding our breath. We do not want the terrible ordeal these Americans are enduring to last one day longer than it has to.” “.

Throughout this period, officials in the United States, Iran, and Qatar were telling the story of those negotiations. Relatives and lawyers of some of the prisoners, and representatives of other organizations familiar with the talks, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret talks about the prisoners.

The result, they said, is proof that even fierce adversaries can sometimes find their way to an agreement.

Nuclear talks stopped

Work to bring Americans home began in early 2021, just weeks after Biden took office.

Siamak Namazi, Imad Sharqi, and Murad Tahbaz were imprisoned on baseless espionage charges and held in Evin Prison, which was notorious for torture accusations and a symbol of the regime’s authoritarian approach to justice.

Biden and his advisers were determined to get them out one way or another, and for months, Secretary of State Antony Blinken carried the names of those detained in his pocket.

First, the United States and Iran needed to find ways to talk about broader issues. Throughout 2021 and the first half of 2022, Washington and Tehran hoped they could revive the Obama-era nuclear deal, which limited Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Former President Donald Trump has abandoned the deal.

Now, American and Iranian officials have engaged in indirect talks in Vienna, and on a separate track, the Biden administration has pushed for a way to release imprisoned Americans.

But by August last year, those talks had completely collapsed, as Iran was making demands about its nuclear program that the United States could not accept, and was rapidly increasing uranium enrichment to 20%, then 60%, and stockpiling beyond the levels approved in the Obama deal that It no longer exists now.

Senior Iranian officials sided with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and reports have emerged of Iranian drones being sold to Russia and being used to target civilians.

Behind the scenes, discussions about releasing imprisoned Americans have become entangled with the broader nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

For negotiators on both sides, it seemed clear that the United States would not agree to a costly deal for prisoners when nuclear negotiations collapsed.

Independent deal

“Throughout 2021 and most of 2022, the United States appeared to prefer to package the detainees’ deal in restoring the JCPOA,” said Iranian official at the International Crisis Group, Ali Vaez, who was familiar with the negotiations on both the American and Iranian sides. “It was only late last year, when it closed The window to nuclear diplomacy, a stand-alone deal for the detainees was considered.”

Iran wanted to be able to access $6 billion in oil revenue that was sitting in accounts in South Korea, which could hardly be used due to currency issues, and Iranian negotiators demanded that the money be moved in a way they could use it.

The United States had been insisting that the money should be placed in restricted accounts, with controls that would make it impossible to use it for anything other than food, medicine, medical devices or agriculture, but the Iranians rejected the proposal outright.

A month later, in mid-September, nationwide protests erupted across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Morality Police. The Iranian government responded with brutal force, and scenes of young men being shot, killed, beaten and arrested dominated newspaper headlines around Iran.

Iranian forces have intensified their attacks on American forces in Syria, and many in the Iranian American diaspora have organized protests in cities across the United States and pressured Washington to end all negotiations with Iran and support Iranians fighting for democratic change.

By this time, Iran had arrested a fourth American, a businessman and scientist whose identity has been withheld, and the Biden administration continued to press for their release.

Robert Malley, who served as Iran's envoy to the United States, met several times with Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani. These were the only major face-to-face discussions between the United States and Iran about prisoners, but they did not result in a breakthrough, and Iravani did not respond. ” to questions from The New York Times about the talks.

Families of detainees

Families of American detainees and their lawyers have publicly pressured Biden to put aside politics and bring their loved ones home.

Namazi, a 51-year-old businessman, gave an interview to CNN in March from Evin prison in which he said that successive American presidents had left him behind to rot in an Iranian cell, and he asked for help.

“I was a hostage for 7 and a half years, 6 times as long as the hostage crisis,” Namazi told CNN, referring to the Americans who were taken hostage in Iran during the 1979 revolution and held for 444 days.

By this spring, agreement on anything that involved concessions to Iran seemed a million miles away.

Resumption of shuttle diplomacy

American diplomats arrived in Oman in May with a heavy dose of skepticism, and Iran had sent word, through intermediaries, that Tehran wanted to reduce tensions.

Just weeks ago, Biden ordered American fighter jets to attack an ammunition depot in eastern Syria linked to Iranian intelligence services, and his administration believes that the attack, a direct response to Iran’s complicity in the first death of an another site in Syria in years, has shaken the Iranians, but American officials - including Brett McGurk, a veteran Middle East diplomat - were skeptical about Iran's seriousness.

McGurk and his American team gathered in one room in a hotel in Muscat, the capital of Oman, and the Iranian delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, met in another delegation. For hours, the Omani mediators moved back and forth between the two groups, who could see each other through the windows. .

The message from McGurk was simple: “If Iran wants to reduce tensions, and perhaps even resume discussions about the country’s nuclear program, it should stop attacking American forces.”

Through the windows, McGurk could see the Iranians arguing, an indication that there was hardly a consensus, but the messages returned by the Omani mediators contained a surprise.

The Iranians wanted concessions on easing sanctions on oil sales, but were willing to consider US demands for an exchange that would release imprisoned Americans.

Within weeks, further talks were arranged in neighboring Gulf state Qatar, which had been trying for years to help broker the release of the Americans.

“Iran decided that if the nuclear agreement with the United States was not sustainable, it had to solve its smaller problems such as exchanging prisoners and reducing tensions in the region,” said Ghaith Gharishi, a political analyst in Iran who advised its Foreign Ministry.

He added, “The approach is that if we eventually untie some of the knots, it could lead to greater openness, easing of sanctions, reaching a nuclear agreement, and the like.”

On June 6, while the Qataris were acting as mediators in Doha, American and Iranian officials reached a written agreement: The Americans would be released, and the United States would allow Iran to purchase humanitarian goods using $6 billion of its profits from oil sales that were stuck in banks in South Korea. The United States will also drop charges against 5 Iranians accused of violating US sanctions.

For McGurk and others in the White House and at the State Department, the flurry of diplomacy in Oman and Qatar this spring was a moment of hope, perhaps a chance to bring Americans home after all. Another delay

But the arrest of the fifth American, a woman from California who was carrying out relief work in Afghanistan, upended any hopes for a quick solution.

For several weeks, McGurk and others in the United States tried to revive the agreement they signed on June 6, and working through mediators again, American officials made it clear that the only way to move forward with the deal was to release it as well.

It took some time to “unpack” the situation, one American official recalled, but once the Iranians agreed to the demand to release the five prisoners, negotiations reached a turning point.

In early August, after a visit by Qatari Minister of State Mohammed Al-Khulaifi to Tehran, the two sides reached a final agreement setting the terms, including the exchange of prisoners and a money transfer mechanism.

There were also conditions that the funds would be kept in Qatar and paid directly to vendors when Iran wanted to make humanitarian purchases of food, medicine and medical equipment.

On August 10, all prisoners were transferred to a hotel in northern Tehran and placed under house arrest awaiting the full transfer of funds.

Finally, on Monday, the Swiss ambassador in Tehran - known as the “protecting force in Iran” for the United States, which has no diplomatic presence there - led two other American citizens to the airport. Iran had agreed to allow Namazi’s mother, Effie, and Morad Tahbaz’s wife, Vida, to leave on the same plane with their relatives.

At the hotel where they were under house arrest, the five American prisoners were also prepared to leave for the airport, where a plane provided by the Qatari government waited to take them to Doha for a Cold War-style exchange on the tarmac and then return home.

But there was another delay, as officials in Iran claimed that not all of the money had reached the bank account in Qatar, and that they would not allow the Americans to leave, and for more than two hours, everyone waited.

In New York, where the president and his aides arrived for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, national security officials were waiting impatiently, and when Iranian officials confirmed they were satisfied that the money had arrived, the Americans took a 40-minute drive to Tehran airport.

At 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, after a brief stop in Doha, the Americans exited the plane at a military base in northern Virginia, free for the first time since their imprisonment.

Two hours later, Sullivan, the president's national security adviser, posted a photo of Americans gathered on the small government plane, and alongside an emoji of the American flag, he wrote: “Welcome home.”