79Five Americans detained for years in Iran walked off a plane and into freedom Monday, most arm-in-arm, as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets owed by a third country, South Korea.
VIDEO BY AP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says seven Americans are now free from detention or imprisonment in Iran and on their way back home. "Five of the seven of course had been unjustly detained, imprisoned in Iran, some for years," said Blinken in New York on Monday. "Two others had been prevented from leaving Iran." The five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran were freed and left Tehran on Monday as part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen.
IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY VIA AP
In this photo released on Aug. 11, 2022, by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani speaks in Tehran, Iran. Some $6 billion of Iranian assets once frozen in South Korea is in Qatar, a key element for a planned prisoner swap between Tehran and the United States, an Iranian official said Monday, Sept. 18, 2023.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two men walk past a state-organized, anti-U.S. mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, on Aug. 19.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A woman walks past an anti-U.S. mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, on Aug. 19.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
People walk past a state-organized, anti-U.S. mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, on Aug. 19.
NOUR NEWS VIA AP
In this photo released by Nour News on Monday, Sept. 18, Iranians Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, right, and Mehrdad Moein Ansari pose at Doha airport in Qatar after being released from prison in the United States in a prisoner swap with Iran. Officials said five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a trade with Iran flew out of Tehran on Monday, part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Emad Sharghi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi, former prisoners in Iran, walk out of a Qatar Airways flight that brought them out of Tehran and to Doha, Qatar, Monday, Sept. 18. Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran were freed Monday and headed home as part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
From left, Emad Sharghi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi, former prisoners in Iran, walk out of a Qatar Airways flight that brought them out of Tehran and to Doha, Qatar, Monday, Sept. 18. Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran were freed Monday and headed home as part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
From left, Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz walk away from a Qatar Airways flight that brought them out of Tehran and to Doha, Qatar, Monday, Sept. 18. Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran were freed Monday and headed home as part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
From left, Morad Tahbaz, Siamak Namazi, and Emad Sharghi walk away arm in arm from a Qatar Airways flight that brought them out of Tehran and to Doha, Qatar, Monday, Sept. 18. Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran were freed Monday and headed home as part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen.
