The announcement of an exchange of prisoners with Iran is completely “separated” from a possible nuclear agreement, warns Washington, while the UN sees in the agreement a reason to hope for a “reduction in tensions “.
A rare agreement between Tehran and Washington. Five former American prisoners in Iran arrived in Doha on Monday from Tehran, pursuant to an exchange of detainees with the United States concluded with the mediation of Qatar.
“It feels really good to be able to say that our fellow citizens are now free,” responded the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, who said he spoke with the five nationals.
“I can tell you that it was a moving conversation for them, for me,” he confided.
The agreement provided for a transfer of frozen Iranian funds to South Korea, amounting to six billion dollars, and the release by the United States of five Iranian prisoners. Two of them, Mehrdad Moin-Ansari and Reza Sarhangpour, accused of having “diverted American sanctions” against Iran, also arrived in Doha on Monday, to return to Iran. The three other released ex-prisoners do not wish to go to Iran.
No progress to be expected on nuclear power, warns Washington
This arrangement was announced on August 10. Five Americans of Iranian origin, detained in Iran, were then transferred from their prison in August to be placed under house arrest.
Among them is businessman Siamak Namazi, arrested in 2015 and sentenced to ten years in prison in 2016 for espionage. “Thank you President (Joe) Biden for putting human life before politics,” he said in a statement.
If the UN said on Monday it hoped for “greater cooperation and a reduction in tensions” between Tehran and Washington, the agreement does not prejudge a possible agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue, moribund since the unilateral withdrawal of the United States. United in 2018 under the presidency of Donald Trump.
“This process, the commitments that were necessary to free these Americans unjustifiably detained, have always been separated from our commitments, or lack thereof, with Iran” on nuclear power, declared Antony Blinken, dampening hopes further discussions on this subject.
Biden promises to “continue to sanction Iran”
Coincidence or coincidence, the United States announced sanctions on Monday against the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And US President Joe Biden promised on Monday to “continue to sanction Iran for its provocative actions in the region”.
The Democrat is operating in a minefield while the Republican opposition criticizes any rapprochement with Tehran. Regarding the release of the six billion dollars of frozen Iranian funds, the White House took care to reject any notion of “ransom” and the spokesperson for the National Security Council, John Kirby, assured that the use of these funds “for humanitarian purposes” only would be under “strict surveillance”.
From the sale of hydrocarbons by Iran, these funds were blocked following American sanctions. Tehran, for its part, assured that it had the possibility of using this envelope in other ways and not just to buy medicine and food.
Source: BFM TV
