TEHRAN: Iran confirmed late Thursday the release of American-Iranian dual nationals under a swap deal, which involved releasing five prisoners each with the US, as well as unblocking Tehran’s over US$10 billion frozen assets in South Korea and Iraq.
In the first reaction from Iran to the release of American-Iranian dual nationals, the country’s United Nations (UN) delegation confirmed the news to state-run news agency IRNA, according to Anadolu Agency.
Iran’s representative to the world body told the news agency that the dual nationals were released from high-security Evin Prison “within the framework of an agreement mediated by a third party” so that the two sides swap five prisoners in question based on forgiveness.
He stopped short of mentioning the name of the country that mediated the prisoner exchange between Tehran and Washington, but sources say it was Qatar.
The report further said the agreement requires the US to facilitate the release of Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea, which will be transferred to Qatar and used for humanitarian purposes.
The prisoners have been transferred to a place other than the prison, but the exchange will not take place until the released funds are deposited into Iranian accounts.
The process of releasing a certain amount of Iranian frozen funds in one of the European banks has also begun, the IRNA report stated, adding that the funds in South Korea will be converted to euro.
On Thursday evening, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and lead nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, confirmed the prisoner swap agreement on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, stating that “the process of releasing billions of dollars of Iranian assets, illegally seized by the US for several years, has commenced.”
“Tehran has received the guarantee of Washington’s commitments. The release of several Iranians who were illegally detained in America is in this context,” he added. – BERNAMA-ANADOLU
