5 US citizens back on American soil under prisoner swap agreement

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Five US citizens who had been imprisoned in Iran returned to the US on Tuesday after being released under a prisoner swap agreement by the Biden administration with Tehran.

A plane carrying these five prisoners, along with two of their family members, touched down at a military facility in Virginia, located just outside of Washington, according to a US official, local news reported.

Among the released prisoners, only three have been publicly identified: Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi, and Morad Tahbaz.

All three individuals hold dual US-Iranian citizenship.

A senior Biden administration official said the other two US citizens opted to preserve their anonymity.

- 5 freed on both sides

Siamak Namazi, a 51-year-old businessman, was arrested in 2015 during a visit to his family in Tehran.

Emad Sharghi, 59, was detained in 2018, a year after relocating from the US to Iran to work for a tech investment firm.

Morad Tahbaz, a 67-year-old environmentalist who also has UK citizenship, was arrested in 2018 while working on a conservation project in Iran.

In addition, the wives of Namazi and Tahbaz, who had previously been unable to leave Iran, also arrived with the released prisoners.

As part of the agreement between Washington and Tehran, the Biden administration unfroze $6 billion worth of Iranian oil revenues and the US released five Iranians who had been charged or convicted of non-violent offenses, according to the US officials. Two of the freed Iranians decided to stay in the US rather than return to Iran.

According to two Biden administration senior officials, among the five Iranians who were released, two had been found guilty of non-violent offenses, while the remaining three were still awaiting trial and had not yet been convicted.

Iran and the US reached an agreement last month mediated by a third party to exchange prisoners that would also see Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea and Iraq unblocked.​​​​​​​

In March, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian announced that Iran had reached an agreement with the US to swap prisoners, saying he hoped the exchange would take place soon.

US President Joe Biden is coming under pressure at home from Republicans for unfreezing Iranian assets at a time when bilateral tensions continue to simmer.​​​​​​​