O Will may release five US citizens detained as part of a deal with the United States, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The proposal is that the Americans give in return the unfreezing of US$ 6 billion (about R$ 29 billion) in Iranian funds in South Korea and the release of some Iranians from US prisons.
In a first step of what can be a complex set of maneuvers, the Will allowed four detained US citizens to leave Tehran’s Evin prison, the lawyer for one of them told Reuters on Thursday, adding to a prisoner already placed under house arrest.
Among those allowed to leave prison are businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Shargi, 58, as well as environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who is also a British national, said Jared Genser, a lawyer representing Namazi. The identity of the fourth US citizen has not been released, as well as that of the fifth citizen already under house arrest.
“The transfer through Will from US hostages at Evin Prison to expected house arrest is an important development,” Genser said in a statement.
“While I hope this is the first step towards final liberation, this is, at best, the beginning of the end and nothing. There are simply no guarantees about what will happen from here.”
Iranian-Americans, whose US citizenship is not recognized by Tehran, are often used as pawns between the two nations, which remain at odds on issues ranging from Iran’s nuclear program to Tehran’s support of Shi’ite militias in countries like Iraq. and Lebanon.
The five will be allowed to leave the Will after the unfreezing of US$6 billion (about R$29 million) in Iranian funds in South Korea, a source told Reuters. If the agreement reached between the two countries is confirmed, many Iranians in US prisons would be released.
A second source familiar with the indirect US-US talksWill assessed that it could take weeks for US citizens to leave the Will, adding that September would be a possible deadline. The source confirmed that unlocking the funds could be part of the deal.
Namazi, convicted in 2016 on espionage-related charges that the United States has rejected as unfounded, is being held by the Will for over seven years. His father, Baquer, was allowed to leave the Will in October for medical treatment after being detained on similar charges also denied by Washington.
Tahbaz was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for “assembling and colluding against the national security of the Will” and for allegedly working for the United States as a spy. Shargi was sentenced for espionage in 2020 to 10 years.
See also: Iran executes three involved in anti-government protests
Source: CNN Brasil
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