According to information from Tehran, the prisoner exchange between the USA and Iran, which has been planned for months, will take place this Monday. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said this to journalists.
Five Americans should therefore return to the USA. In return, the US pardoned five Iranians who had been convicted or charged there. It is not yet known whether the prisoners are already on their way.
The US is also releasing around $6 billion (5.58 billion euros) in frozen Iranian assets. At the beginning of last week, the US government had already granted an exemption for banks so that they could transfer frozen Iranian assets without having to fear US sanctions. reported the Washington Post citing government sources. The assets come from an oil purchase from South Korea that the Trump administration first allowed Seoul to make but then tightened sanctions. The money was frozen in South Korea. Now it should be transferred from South Korea to Qatar. According to US information, Iran is only allowed to use the money for humanitarian purposes.
The exchange has been prepared for months. At the beginning of August, Iran released the now released Americans from custody and placed them under house arrest in a hotel in the capital Tehran. Iran repeatedly detains foreigners on charges of espionage or other national security violations. Human rights activists criticize the proceedings, which are often held behind closed doors, as unfair.
The Islamic Republic is also accused of holding foreigners hostage. Several Germans are also imprisoned in Iran. Relations between Iran and the US are historically bad. Both countries were repeatedly on the brink of war. In January 2020, the US killed the powerful Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani in a drone strike in neighboring Iraq. Weeks of military tension followed.