[ti:U.S., Iran to Exchange Prisoners]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2023-09-19]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that seven Americans have been released by Iran after the nations agreed to a prisoner exchange also involving Qatar and South Korea.
[00:18.74]South Korea said on Monday it is working with the United States and Iran to release restrictions on $6 billion of frozen Iranian money.
[00:35.18]The U.S. is releasing the money as part of the prisoner exchange.
[00:41.70]The money is being transferred to Qatar. 
[00:45.33]Then, seven people with dual U.S. citizenship, who have been imprisoned or detained in Iran, are expected to leave Tehran for Doha.
[01:00.30]Officials told Reuters news service that, from there, they will travel to the United States.
[01:08.26]Qatar mediated the deal during months of talks.
[01:13.78]In return, five Iranians detained in the U.S. will be released so they can travel to Iran.
[01:22.93]Iranian officials and Iran's state news agency have said one of those detainees is expected to remain in the United States.
[01:35.38]The exact timing of the transfer of the money has yet to be announced.
[01:42.19]The deal was first made public on August 10. But the countries continue to disagree on many issues.
[01:52.45]They include Iran's nuclear program, Iran's effort to influence the Persian Gulf area, U.S. sanctions and America's military presence in the Persian Gulf.
[02:09.18]South Korea is "currently making efforts to ensure smooth progress of all procedures so that it will be resolved once and for all," the country's foreign ministry said in a statement.
[02:27.20]The U.S. dual citizens to be released include 51-year-old Siamak Namazi and 59-year-old Emad Sharqi, both businessmen, and 67-year-old Morad Tahbaz, an environmentalist. 
[02:47.56]Tahbaz also holds British nationality. Iran released them from prison and put them under house arrest last month.
[02:59.16]A fourth U.S. citizen was also released into house arrest, while a fifth was already under house arrest. 
[03:09.01]Their identities have not been released.
[03:13.24]Iranian officials named the five Iranians to be released by the U.S. as: Mehrdad Moin-Ansari, Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, Amin Hassanzadeh and Kaveh Afrasiabi. 
[03:35.87]Two Iranian officials said Afrasiabi would remain in the United States.
[03:43.23]As a first step in the deal, the United States suspended sanctions to permit the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar.
[03:59.04]The money had been blocked in South Korea, which is normally one of Iran's largest oil buyers, because of U.S. sanctions.
[04:10.98]Under the agreement, Qatar agreed to monitor how Iran uses the money to ensure it goes to non-sanctioned humanitarian goods, like food and medicine.
[04:26.05]The transfer of Iran's money has faced criticism from U.S. lawmakers including opposition Republican Party members.
[04:38.45]They said the deal is equal to paying a ransom for U.S. citizens. 
[04:46.00]The administration of President Joe Biden has defended the deal.
[04:52.47]Qatar held at least eight sets of talks involving Iranian and U.S. negotiators. 
[05:00.23]The negotiators worked from separate hotels. 
[05:05.72]People told Reuters that they exchanged proposals through Qatari mediators.
[05:13.36]Earlier talks dealt mainly with the nuclear issue.
[05:18.66]Later, talks turned to the prisoner releases.
[05:24.18]I'm Caty Weaver.
