Five Americans are Freed from an Iran Prison
Five Americans are freed, a prisoner swap was recently put into play for people who were serving years in an Iranian prison and labeled as hostages are on the way back to the United States.
Six-billion of Iranian cash placed in South Korea went to banks in Doha. Four men and one women were released from a prison in Tehran. They are citizens of Iran as well and the five are on their way to Washington after taking a flight to Qatar’s capital to meet U.S. officials.
Those Released
The citizens released were Fifty-one year old businessman, Siamak Namazi, fifty-nine year old businessman, Emad Shargi, sixty-seven year old environmentalist, Morad Tahbaz. There’s three more people but they’re unnamed. Namazi served the longest amount of time. Sadly, he was forgot about in past swaps by the Obama and Trump administrations. Shargi was arrested in 2018 with Tahbaz. All of those arrested would spend eight years in the Evin prison of Tehran. All of the US citizens were serving time on unreasonable charges for political exploit. Five Iranian citizens are also being freed after serving charges of violating US permits. The Iranians are:
- Reza Sarhangpour.
- Kambiz Attar Kashani.
- Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi.
- Mehrdad Moein Ansari.
- And Amin Hasanzadeh.
The Aftermath
Those released showed appreciation to President Biden for putting the lives of Americans above politics. Because of this, it’s a win for both sides as it brings both countries to equal terms. Iran earned six billion dollars from the swap.
They’re going to be producing medicine, agriculture, food, and other sorts of things. Basically the money was given to them for humanitarian goods.
When the five return back to the U.S., they’ll be given the option of having help in the process for their re-entry. The citizens also received medical checkups in Doha before they arrived in America.
What was the reason?
This was an effort of the Biden administration to clear the problems between the U.S. and Iran. The money given to Iran had restrictions. Like, the country couldn’t spend money on nuclear equipment that would possibly backfire on America. A small percentage of America didn’t agree on Biden’s appeasement.
Additionally, they feel as if it makes Iran more superior and America weaker. Furthermore, a lot of citizens in the U.S. have little trust in Iran due to the previous confrontations and experiences with the country.
Previous Issues
In 2020, President Trump called out an airstrike to eliminate Iraq’s top general, Qasem Soleimani. Due to this, Iran retaliated by firing at bases in Iraq that American troops stayed in. Experiences like this contributes to the small percentage of Americans who disagreed on Biden’s appeasement.
By Kam’ron Stinson
Sources:
The New York Times: Iran Prisoner Exchange
BBC NEWS: Iran prisoner swap: US citizens freed in $6bn deal
CBS NEWS: Iran releases 5 Americans in prisoner swap
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Diethelm Scheidereit‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Insert Image Courtesy of Diethelm Scheidereit‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
