September 12th 2023.
The Biden administration has reached a deal with Iran in which the United States will pay £4.8bn in exchange for the release of four American citizens and one British citizen. The dual nationals involved are Siamak Namazi, 51, Emad Shargi, 58, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, who holds British citizenship, as well as a fourth US citizen whose identity has not been made public. The fifth man was already under house arrest.
The assets will be transferred to Qatar from South Korea where they are currently held and Iran will be able to use it to purchase humanitarian goods. The waiver was issued by the Biden administration to allow international banks to transfer frozen Iranian money without the repercussions of US sanctions. However, Congress was only informed about the deal on Monday, despite US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken signing it off last week.
Namazi had been detained by Iran for more than seven years after he was convicted of espionage-related charges in 2016. Tahbaz was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for ‘assembly and collusion against Iran’s national security’ and working for the US as a spy. Shargi was also sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of espionage in 2020.
Their families said their loved ones are ‘hostages’ taken captive on false charges and used as bargaining chips by the government. Several European countries were reluctant to take part in the transfer of funds that sealed their release, which could come at a political price domestically for the Democrats as the Republicans accuse them of boosting Iran's economy. Republican senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas accused Biden of ‘paying ransom to the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism’, while Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said it was ‘ridiculous… to be blackmailed’ and that ‘terrorism’ is Iran’s number one foreign policy.
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