Biden Announces Release Of Hostages, After Iran Gets $6 Billion
US President Joe Biden issued a statement Monday announcing the release of five Americans who were held hostage in Iran but were freed and flown to Qatar.
US President Joe Biden issued a statement Monday announcing the release of five Americans who were held hostage in Iran but were freed and flown to Qatar.
"Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home," the statement said and added, "I am grateful to our partners at home and abroad for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the Governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland, and South Korea."
US officials received the five freed Americans released by Tehran after they disembarked from a Qatari plane at Doha international airport on Monday, a Reuters witness said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had spoken to the US citizens after they left Iran and flew to Doha as part of a prisoner swap. "I can tell you that it was for them, for me, an emotional conversation,” he said, adding that "President Biden has demonstrated that he is prepared to make tough and difficult decisions.”
"This process, and the engagements necessary to bring it about, the freedom of these unjustly detained Americans has always been a separate track in our engagement, or for that matter our lack of engagement, with Iran. So, irrespective of what is happening or not happening with respect to a return to the nuclear agreement, we have been working independently to bring these Americans home,” he noted. "We will continue to take whatever step is necessary to deal with actions by Iran in a whole host of areas that are profoundly objectionable, and that many other countries find objectionable."
Switzerland's ambassador to Iran accompanied them on the plane to Doha, the witness added.
Earlier, the five US detainees had flown out of Iran in a swap for five Iranians held in the United States, in a rare deal between the arch enemies that also unfroze $6 billion of Tehran's funds.
Earlier in the day, Mohammad-Reza Farzin, chief of Iran's central bank announced that the $6 billion released by South Korea with authorization from the United States was converted into 5.73 billion euros and transferred Monday to six Iranian accounts at two Qatari banks.
Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson has Nasser Kanaani disclosed on Monday that two of the Iranians released in the United States will return to Iran, one individual will travel to another country, and two others will continue to reside in the US.
The controversial deal, first made public on August 10, is seen as a first step toward an unwritten deal, whereby Iran will reduce high-level uranium enrichment in exchange for more of its frozen funds being released and a lax sanctions regime by Washington.
Republican lawmakers and many Iranian Americans have sharply criticized the deal, calling it the highest ransom paid in history to free five people, which will free up resources for the Iranian regime to spend on weapons and support to militant organizations.
Meanwhile, Iran’s President Ebrahim left Tehran for New York Monday to participate in the UN General Assembly. He is scheduled to hold diplomatic meetings while in New York. Critics of the Biden administration Iran policy also took issue with the decision to allow Raisi to enter the country, while Iran is still under sanctions and expanding its nuclear program.
The US dual citizens to be released include Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality. They were released from prison and put under house arrest last month.
A fourth US citizen was also released into house arrest, while a fifth was already under house arrest. Their identities have not been disclosed.
Iranian officials named the five Iranians to be released by the US as Mehrdad Moin-Ansari, Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, Amin Hassanzadeh and Kaveh Afrasiabi. Afrasiabi who was prosecuted for accepting payments from the Iranian government has apparently decided to remain in the United States.
As a first step in the deal, Washington waived sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar. The funds had been blocked in South Korea because of US sanctions.
Under the agreement, Doha agreed to monitor how Iran spends the funds to ensure it goes on non-sanctioned humanitarian goods, such as food and medicine.
Meanwhile, Iran announced on Saturday that it has withdrawn accreditation for several UN nuclear inspectors, a move that intensified criticism of Biden’s Iran policy amid freeing the frozen funds. A European Union spokesman on Sunday said the EU is “highly concerned” by Iran’s decision, and asked Tehran to reconsider “without delay.”
With reporting by Reuters
National security advisor Qasim al-Araji, leading a high-level security delegation, arrived in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on Monday, just a day before the September 19 deadline for finalizing the disarmament agreement.
Back in March, during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani in Baghdad, then-Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, and his Iraqi counterpart al-Araji signed a joint security cooperation document aimed at curtailing the activities of Iranian-Kurdish militants.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has cordial relations with Tehran, has on several occasions called on neighboring countries and armed Kurdish groups to not use the region’s territory as an arena to settle scores. In July, the Iranian military threatened military action if Iraq failed to meet the deadline.
Tehran has long accused the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of harboring opposition groups labeled as "terrorist" or "anti-revolutionary" and permitting them to use border areas as launchpads for attacks against Iran. These groups claim that their armed campaign aims to "defend the rights of the Kurds" in Iran. The Iranian regime has escalated attacks against Iranian Kurds sheltering in Iraqi Kurdistan, citing "separatist" Kurdish groups as instigating conflict in Iranian Kurdish cities by supporting popular protests.
Al-Araji visited Tehran last week "under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani," to discuss tightening security at the border between the two countries. This visit came several days after the Islamic Republic's warnings that cross-border attacks would continue unless Baghdad and Erbil secured the borders. In recent weeks, he has been shuttling between Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, Tehran, and Baghdad to coordinate this effort.
During a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on September 13, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced that several groups had already been disarmed, and arrangements were being made to set up camps at an undisclosed location for the relocation of these groups.
Waad Qado, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, stated on Monday that Iraq had requested an extension of the deadline. Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, however, said on Sunday that Tehran would not extend the ultimatum, warning Baghdad of an "eleventh-hour decision" on the matter.
"We do not have any extension [to the deadline]. We will act in due time in accordance with the agreement made [with Iraq]," he said, warning Baghdad of a last-minute assessment of the situation before making the final decision.
The spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command also said on Sunday that government forces have begun to gain full control over all border points with neighboring Iran, emphasizing that Baghdad is fully committed to implementing the agreement. Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji added, "The step is meant to prevent the use of Iraqi soil to launch an attack on neighboring states, as emphasized in the Iraqi Constitution."
Earlier this month, the ground forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) deployed forces to the northwestern borders of Iran.
In general, Kurdish parties, including Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), favor Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran. On the other hand, Pejak (the Free Life Party of Kurdistan), an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which originated in Turkey but is also based in northern Iraq, generally advocates for a unified, independent Kurdistan uniting Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.
According to a Tehran newspaper, some lawmakers have reportedly been calling on Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to return the bill to the economic committee for further review. They told reporters that lawmakers have serious concerns about the plan's economic implications for the country.
Iran draws up multi-year economic development plans as a guide for both the executive branch and also for the parliament that must examine and approve annual budgets.
The lawmakers also said that Ghalibaf has told the "country's high officials," meaning Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the Islamic Republic's jargon, that although the budget committee has made some changes in the plan, it still cannot be approved because it is deficient.
Earlier, former Minister of Economy Mehdi Karbasian had warned: "The 7th Development Plan cannot be implemented because of the inefficiency of the Raisi administration's officials. Also, Iranian economist Farshad Momeni had called the development plan drawn up by the Raisi's government as "strange and delirious." He had said that the plan lacked any clear logic. Another economist, Ali Ghanbari told Khabar Online website that the 7th Development Plan has been written in a perfunctory way.
Mohamad-Reza Pourebrahimi, the chairman of the parliament's Economic Committee told the daily, "We cannot approve parts of the plan. And we are not sure that all additions to the original text of the plan have been made by the Budget Committee." He added: "We are seriously critical of the plan and are preparing a letter to the Speaker of the Majles demanding another round of review by the committees before starting the final debate about it at the parliament.
Asked about the problematic parts of the Development Plan, Pourebrahimi said, "It is not clear in the plan how the government will fund major parts of the plan from." He added, "The government has not provided us with information, and there are parts of the plan that contradict the Constitutional Law. All of this should have been made clear in the report presented by the Budget Committee." He further added: "In its current shape, the plan is illegal."
Meanwhile, Mojtaba Yousefi, a lawmaker from Ahvaz and a member of the Majles Presidium explained to Donya-ye Eqtesad that "It is natural for the Majles to change parts of the plan presented by the government. But we see that changes have been made to the Budget Committee's attestations and we do not know who made the changes." He further explained that these changes should not impose further economic commitments on the government.
Yousefi said: "Development plans are meant to determine the outlook for the country's development within the next five years and certain ministries are not supposed to change an existing law in order to serve demands by some." Yousefi's statement indicated that some of the "illegal" changes have been made by the government. He added that "most of what has been illegally added to the plan were done by the government after the initial review."
Rahim Zare, a member of the Budget Committee of the Majles suggested that part of the changes made by the government are meant to mend its annual budget in violation of the law. He added that in its current shape, the plan is not consistent with the situation of Iranian businesses and the economic difficulties they currently face.
Zare said: "The government has failed to address the plan's serious shortcomings in the areas of finance, banking and matters relating to businesses, trade and economy."