Siamak Namazi/Neda Shargi/Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley
Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz were among the Americans believed to have participated in the deal.
cnn
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Five Americans who have been imprisoned in Iran They are expected to be released on Monday as part of a Broader US-Iran dealsaid a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
The United States government has designated the five Americans as unjustly detained.
In a news conference broadcast on state-affiliated Press TV on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the release “will hopefully be completed” along with the other elements of the deal.
A Qatari plane is on standby in Iran to take the five Americans to Doha, a source briefed on the details of the matter told CNN on Monday.
Under the US-Iran deal, $6 billion in Iranian funds that had been held in restricted accounts in South Korea would be transferred to restricted accounts at banks in Qatar. Qatar has notified Iranian and US officials that the money has been transferred from Switzerland to bank accounts in Qatar, according to a source briefed on the details of the matter.
Sources told CNN that the funds came from oil sales that were permitted and placed in accounts created under the Trump administration. Biden administration officials have stressed that funds that have been transferred to accounts in Qatar can only be used by Iran for humanitarian purchases and each transaction will be overseen by the US Treasury Department.
The agreement also involves the release of five Iranians from US custody.
The release of the Americans would represent a significant diplomatic breakthrough after years of complicated indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
The three publicly known to be part of the deal – Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi – have been imprisoned for more than five years. Namazi has been detained since 2015. The identities of the other two Americans are not publicly known.
This is a developing story. Will be updated…