Iran and the United States will exchange prisoners on Monday after some $6 billion once frozen in South Korea reached Qatar, a key element of the planned swap, officials said.
The planned exchange comes just ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi will speak. However, the swap won’t mean that tensions have been lowered between the U.S. and Iran, which now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
Kanaani made his comments during a news conference aired on state television, but the feed cut immediately after his remarks without explanation. The announcement by Kanaani comes weeks after Iran said that five Iranian-Americans are now under house arrest as part of a confidence-building move while Seoul allowed the frozen assets, held in South Korean won, to be converted into euros. That money was then sent to Qatar, an interlocutor between Tehran and Washington in the negotiations.
On the U.S. side, Washington has said the planned swap includes Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.The five prisoners Iran has said it seeks are mostly held over allegedly trying to export material to Iran.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred with that explanation, though some hard-liners have insisted, without providing evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money. Iran has received international criticism over its targeting of people with dual citizenship. The West accuses Iran of using foreign prisoners as bargaining chips, an allegation Tehran rejects.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'We must unite': Iranian Americans in Utah protest oppression in IranIranian American protestors gathered at the Utah State Capitol on Saturday, speaking out against the Islamic Republic's killing of Iranian protesters and calling for the U.S. government to fight back.
Read more »
Five Americans detained in Iran expected to be freed Monday, Iranian foreign ministry saysFive Americans who have been imprisoned in Iran are expected to be released Monday as part of a wider US-Iran deal, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said.
Read more »
Iranian authorities arrest Mahsa Amini’s father on anniversary of her deathAfter her death in police custody, Amini became the face of an anti-regime movement that protesters have sustained since September of last year
Read more »
| The Iranian regime keeps cracking down. Iranian women keep pushing back.As a fateful anniversary approaches, Iran’s women continue to show defiance.
Read more »
Mahsa Amini's father detained by Iranian authorities on anniversary of daughter's deathIranian authorities detained the father of Mahsa Amini on the one-year anniversary of her death Saturday, Iranian journalists and rights groups have said.
Read more »