Iran’s foreign minister has expressed readiness to implement a deal mediated by Qatar with the United States. Under this deal, both nations would release five prisoners each, and $6 billion in Iranian assets held in South Korea would be released.
The agreement’s broad outlines were made public on August 10, stipulating that detained US citizens in Iran would be allowed to leave in exchange for transferring funds to Qatari banks and the release of five Iranians held in the United States.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian commended Qatar’s constructive role in the months of negotiations during a telephone conversation with his Qatari counterpart.
Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, announced that the process of transferring Iran’s unfrozen funds to Qatari banks would be completed as early as next week.
To enable the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar, the United States has waived sanctions. Qatar will monitor how Iran utilizes the funds to purchase humanitarian goods.
The waiver has drawn criticism from some quarters, with concerns that the deal will improve Iran’s economy at a time when the country is seen as posing a growing threat to US troops and allies in the region.
People familiar with the negotiations anticipate that the detainees will be released as early as next week. Among the American prisoners are Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges, as well as Emad Shargi, a venture capitalist, and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson recently stated that the deal is expected to be executed in the coming days.
