Five U.S. citizens held in Iran for years under what U.S. officials described as brutal conditions were released on Monday and allowed to fly out of the country, the result of months of secret negotiations, a senior Biden administration official said.

said President Biden.

In return, Iran will gain access to $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues that have been frozen, and five Iranian citizens imprisoned in the US will be released.

((Biden quote.))

The former prisoners

flew flew

on a Qatari government plane to Doha before heading to Washington. Several senior Biden administration officials were on hand to greet them in the Qatari capital.

Dear

“

wrongly arrested

“

they were taken from the infamous Evin prison by the US

in Tehran

to house arrest last month as the first step in the complicated deal. Among the five was Siamek Namazi,

51,

the tallest hero at eight years.

The others who were

liberated

US citizens include Namazi, 51, and

Emad Shargi, 59,

who are

commercial

aa

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like Namazi

, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmental activist. The two others, at least one of whom is a woman, have declined to be publicly identified. Shargi and Tahbaz were arrested in 2018.

moved this and the next two beats up.

The three identified men are both American and Iranian citizens and were jailed on what Iran called security-related charges. Namazi’s father, Baquer, was also arrested by Iran in 2016 when he went to visit his son, but was released on “humanitarian grounds” in Tehran in October.

civil servants

said. He is 86 years old and in poor health.

A Navy veteran received unexpected help while imprisoned in Iran. Once released, he repaid the favor

All former detainees have been categorized by the US government as unlawfully detained, marking a new division within the State Department’s work.

ed

solely on securing their freedom.

Once under house arrest, the US authorized the transfer of $6 billion, frozen as part of economic sanctions on Iran, from a South Korean bank where the money was being held to a supervised bank account in Qatar. Iran wants

only

can use the money

only

for humanitarian needs, US officials say sa

idy

. The transactions will be monitored and if Tehran uses the money for terrorism or military purposes, the US will freeze the funds again, the officials said.

idy

.

The deal is controversial, especially among Republican critics

Biden

administration

, who claims so. T t

This arrangement will give the Islamic Republic, as well as other governments, an incentive to capture Americans

actually

hold them hostage for ransom

say the critics

.

Some critics have done so too

wrongly, wrongly

accused the Biden administration of paying off Iran to secure Americans’ freedom. In fact the

funds commodity money is Iranian money the country

earned

by Iran with the sale of oil

through oil sales a few years ago.

Seventy years later, Iran is still haunted by the CIA-led coup against its prime minister

While you plead

for

the

immediately

freedom from

what he mentioned

American

hostage

s, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-

Texas.

) said he was concerned that facilitating the transfer of the money to Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,

would would

encourage future hosting use.

The administration is showing weakness that only further endangers Americans and freedom-loving people around the world, McCaul said in a statement.

Administration officials acknowledge that the deal came with what they called difficult choices.

When it comes to getting Americans out of jail and back home [who have been] Wrongfully imprisoned anywhere in the world, I happily accept any criticism that comes my way, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said last week. We are willing to make tough decisions to make that possible.

On Monday, Blinken added…..

The money transfer was complex. South Korea insisted that the execution would be carried out in installments so as not to do that

influence tank

its own economy. Blinken signed waivers earlier this month to reassure international banks they could handle the money without risking sanctions or fines.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has nevertheless expressed doubts about how this will be done

his country

will use the money despite the mentioned US-imposed restrictions.

“This money belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money,” Raisi said in an interview with NBC. He spoke through an interpreter.

The negotiations over the prisoners have remained separate from a series of still contentious issues between Washington and Tehran, such as Iran’s supply to Russia of drones used in

it is the

was about Ukraine

,

And

are

support for militant groups throughout the Middle East.

Confidential report from UN nuclear watchdog: Iran slows enrichment of near weapons-grade uranium

The

Biden

the administration has continued to impose

punitive

sanctions against Iran and individual officials, including a series last week. Many are targeting those deemed responsible for human rights abuses, including the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman who died in the custody of the

country

so-called morality police

precisely

a year ago. She was arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly, and her death sparked widespread protests

Iranian

government forcibly suppressed.

“We will continue to sanction Iranian behavior, whether it is ignoring the basic standards of human rights contained in the Universal Declaration

[of Human Rights]

or

…it’s relative

“Iran’s work to supply Russia with weapons to kill Ukrainian civilians, and we will make more statements about that in the coming days,” the White House said.

N n

ational

S s

safety

One one

Director Jake Sullivan said Friday

(9-15)

.

So separated are t T

alk

involving the US and other countries

with Iran to curb its nuclear program

. Those conversations

have stalled since the Trump administration withdrew from an international agreement limiting Iran’s enrichment of uranium, a key ingredient in nuclear production.

The released US citizens are Namazi, 51, and Emad Shargi, 59, businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmental activist. The two others, at least one of whom is a woman, have declined to be publicly identified. Shargi and Tahbaz were arrested in 2018. The three identified men are both American and Iranian citizens and were jailed on what Iran called security-related charges. Namazi’s father, Baquer, was also arrested by Iran in 2016 when he went to visit his son, but was released in October on “humanitarian grounds,” Tehran said. He is 86 years old and in poor health. All former prisoners have been categorized by the US government as unlawfully detained, meaning a new department within the State Department is working solely to secure their freedom. Similar negotiations include human rights activist Paul Rusesabagina, who was detained in Rwanda, and American basketball star Brittney Griner, who was arrested by Russia in 2022 for possession of vape cartridges containing hash oil. She was released in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian convicted arms dealer.

are still being held abroad, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia in late March on espionage charges, and Paul Whelan, a former Navy and corporate security director, arrested

in Russia

so in 2018

in Russia

on charges of espionage. Both men have denied the allegations.

Others released through similar negotiations include human rights activist Paul Rusesabagina, who was detained in Rwanda, and

American basketball star Brittney Griner, arrested by Russia in 2022 for possession of vape cartridges containing hash oil,

. She

what was released

late last year

in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian convicted arms dealer.

Despite the cheers over the release of the Iranian prisoners, critics continued to rebuke the Iranians

Biden

government for making concessions to the country with which Washington has not had diplomatic relations for decades.

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vv

ice

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Resident and current Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence said the $6 billion amount was a “ransom.”

But State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that stance was unrealistic.

“Iran is not going to release these American citizens out of the goodness of their hearts,” he said before Monday’s release. “That’s not real life. … That would never happen.”

Wilkinson reported from New York and Subramanian from Washington.