Officials say ‘historic’ deal to reunite families has not changed America’s relationship with Iran, amid Republican concerns over ‘ransom-like’ arrangement.
Five Americans who were released by the Iran regime arrived in Qatar on Monday.
Footage from the airport shows hostages Morad Tahbaz, Siamak Namazi, and Emad Sharghi descending the steps of the plane and being greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Timmy Davis.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the Qataris, Swiss, South Koreans, and Omanis for helping in the exchange.
Mr. Blinken renewed warnings to U.S. citizens not to travel to Iran, saying they might not meet the same fate as the five released Monday.
The Biden administration announced on Monday that five Americans detained in Iran have been released.
“We have received confirmation that the five freed Americans and two American family members are wheels up in Tehran and en route to Doha,” a senior administration official stated earlier the day.
In comments on Sunday evening ahead of the “historic” consular deal, senior U.S. officials told reporters that Iran was expected to allow seven Americans to fly out of Tehran at 1 p.m. local time, while noting that the “process could still hit unanticipated hurdles.”
One official said that things remain extremely complex and fragile, “as with really anything we do in a country like Iran.”
The sensitive deal, which according to media reports has been negotiated for some time, was conducted with the United States agreeing to allow the one-off waiver on U.S. sanctions for $6 billion in oil funds from South Korea to Doha for Tehran to access for humanitarian purposes, and to grant clemency to five Iranians for crimes allegedly committed in the United States.
In return, Tehran released five Americans from the notorious Evan Prison into house arrest in a Tehran hotel last month. One of the five, Siamak Namazi, had already been under house arrest since 2022. He was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized espionage charges alongside his father, Baquer Namazi.
By Melanie Sun
