Five Americans who were freed Monday from Iran as part of a historic prisoner exchange landed in the United Stateswhere they were received by the United States ambassador to Qatar and their families.
The Americans and two of their relatives arrived in Doha, Qatar, on Monday after leaving Iranwhere they were detained for several years under different charges.
The United States offered five Iranian prisoners as part of the exchange, and returned $6 billion in frozen funds for use in Iran.. The Biden administration stated that the Iranians who were released in the agreement do not pose a threat to US national security.
The five Americans involved in the deal are Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi, Morad Tahbaz, while two other people were not identified at their request. Namazi, Sharghi and Tahbaz They were accused of espionage and other crimes by Iran, but denied the accusations and said they were victims of political persecution.
Namazi, one of five Americans involved in the exchange deal, issued a statement noting that it may take time for him to “reacquaint himself with freedom.” and facing health issues from his time in prison, but he also expressed excitement about the opportunities his new freedom will present.
“I want to see foliage instead of walls and guards. “I want to lie on the grass, with the warm sun on my face and look at the open blue sky,” Namazi stated in the statement. “My other urgent ‘needs’ include visiting the Apple Store to replace all the devices my captors took as rewards. I’m dying to find out what devices exist now; when they took me hostage, the iPhone 6s had just come out. You can’t imagine what an eight-year-old itch feels like.”
Upon arrival, three of the former prisoners, Namazi, Sharghi and Tahbaz, They hugged the ambassador and others present after getting off the plane.
For his part, President Joe Biden highlighted the exchange in a statement on Monday, clarifying that the two unidentified Americans asked that their identities not be revealed. He also remembered Bob Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and his whereabouts remain unknown.
“As we celebrate the return of these Americans, we also remember those who did not return. I call on the Iranian regime to give a full account of what happened to Bob Levinson. The Levinson family deserves answers,” Biden wrote.
The Nour News agency identified two of the released Iranians as Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the United States to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military equipment, and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 with allegedly illegally exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money that South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid. for oil purchased before the United States imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
With information from Fox News
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