The US returns 6 billion to Iran in exchange for 5 American prisoners
The United States has agreed to grant Iran access to $6 billion in currently frozen Iranian oil revenues currently held in South Korea, media reported Thursday, in exchange for the release of five Americans imprisoned in Iran. It is 1.2 billion per prisoner, in considerable ransom…
Iran has released five Iranian/US dual citizens, who now remain under house arrest in a Tehran hotel. The prisoners will be held in a hotel for weeks until they can board a plane to return to the United States.
A lawyer for one of the prisoners warned that "there are simply no guarantees as to what happens from here", warning that, until the last minute, the government could change its mind.
White House officials have not confirmed what they have given Iran in exchange for the prisoner's release, but unnamed sources familiar with the matter have suggested that when the Americans are finally allowed to go home, several Iranian citizens jailed for violated the penalties will be released from prison. In addition to releasing the prisoners, the White House will also arrange for a transfer of $6 billion of Iranian oil revenue currently held in South Korea to a bank in Qatar. The money will be controlled by the Qatari government, which will ensure that Iran only uses the money to pay vendors for purchases related to humanitarian needs, such as medicine and food.
The deal has been in preparation for weeks, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, which were brokered by Oman, Qatar and Switzerland.
Americans will not be allowed to go home until the oil money, which can only be used for humanitarian purposes, is in Qatar's bank account.
According to the Iranian director of the International Crisis Group, Ali Vaez, “All that Iran can do under this agreement is to send orders to a bank in Doha for food and medicines and a limited number of medical equipment that have no dual military use. The Doha bank would pay for the goods and the Qatari companies would deliver them to Iran. Iran has no direct access to funds."
Now we just have to wait if this agreement will actually be respected
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The article The USA returns 6 billion to Iran in exchange for 5 American prisoners comes from Scenari Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-restituiscono-6-miliardi-alliran-in-cambio-di-5-prigionieri-americani/ on Fri, 11 Aug 2023 06:00:51 +0000.