Five American citizens were released in Doha (Qatar) on Monday as part of an agreement with Iran. They are expected to move to the United States in the coming hours.

Americans were thought of wrongly arrested and his release came after the release of $6 billion in Iranian funds.

The transfer took place on a Qatari government plane leaving Tehran airport and two relatives of the detainees were also present.

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A total of 10 prisoners will be exchanged between the United States and Tehran, with the remaining five corresponding to five Iranian citizens, two of whom are imprisoned for minor crimes and three are awaiting trial, a senior US government official said in a statement. a telephone conversation with journalists. .

The Americans released in Iran are Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and two others who prefer not to reveal their identities.

They all left prison last August and were placed under house arrest in a hotel while they waited for the details of the prisoner swap negotiated by the U.S. and Iranian governments to be finalized during talks in Oman and Qatar.

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“Today, five innocent Americans imprisoned in Iran are finally returning home… I thank our domestic and foreign partners for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland and South Korea” , President Joe Biden said in a statement.

The $6 billion came from Iranian oil funds frozen in South Korea due to sanctions imposed by Washington.

As the release took place, Joe Biden’s administration announced new sanctions on Iran, including former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country’s Department of Military Intelligence.

White House spokesman John Kirby noted this in an interview with cnn that the sanctions are “related to the unjust detention of American citizens in Iran,” something that also applies to this case.

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There are still no details on the sanctions, but, Kirby said, they are trying to “send a strong message to Tehran” that they will continue to hold the country accountable for its actions and “destabilizing behavior” in the Gulf region.

Iran has been accused of using dual nationals and foreign nationals as pressure or for prisoner exchanges with other states, a practice described as “hostage diplomacy.”

The United States has denied that the nuclear issue was raised during the latest prisoner exchange negotiations. (JO)