Iran has confirmed that American prisoners have been released from Evin prison in Tehran as part of the prisoner exchange agreement with the United States of America (USA), the official news agency Irna reported, Radio Free Europe reports.
"According to that agreement, five Iranian prisoners in the US and five American prisoners in Iran will be exchanged," the Irna agency announced, citing a well-informed source.
Five American citizens jailed in Iran on charges of collaborating with an enemy government have been transferred from Tehran's Evin prison to an undisclosed hotel, following reports that the US and Iran have reached a prisoner exchange deal.
The US citizens were transferred on August 10 after months of closed-door negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
According to Jared Genser, a lawyer for one of the inmates, four inmates were transferred from Evin prison to a hotel. Genser said it appears a fifth American citizen has already been placed under house arrest.
Washington confirmed the release
A statement from the White House National Security Council (NSC) confirmed the release of American citizens Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Sharki and two other Americans who wish to remain private.
"We have received confirmation that Iran has released five Americans who were unjustly detained and placed them under house arrest," NSC spokeswoman Adrien Watson said in a statement.
Watson said the release of the Americans was an "encouraging step," stressing that "they should not have been detained in the first place" and that efforts to bring them home were continuing.
Negotiations for their possible release are still ongoing and are delicate, she added.
Genser called the transfer of the Americans from Evin prison to house arrest "an important development."
"Although I hope this is the first step towards their eventual release, at best it is only a preliminary action and nothing more," he added.
The prisoners were released shortly after the New York Times reported that Iran and the US had reached an agreement to release the Americans in exchange for an unspecified number of imprisoned Iranians and Tehran receiving access to $XNUMX billion in oil revenue for humanitarian purposes.
A sign of progress in relationships
Gregory Bru, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, told Radio Farda that this development is the first constructive sign of progress in US-Iran relations since the informal understanding was reported in June.
"Despite escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf, both sides still appear to be interested in taking small steps toward de-escalation," Bru said.
"An important area to pay attention to is the nuclear issue. The US wants Iran to release its prisoners, but what it really wants to see is for Iran to increase its cooperation with the UN nuclear agency and reduce its uranium enrichment," he said.
It is possible that progress on the nuclear issue will build on the prisoner deal, Bru said, but added: "We will have to wait for an update from the UN nuclear agency to know whether Iran has taken the steps that the US wants."
Iran under sanctions and unrest
Iran's economy has been hampered by Western sanctions over its human rights record, and unrest has rocked the country since late last year due to falling living standards, back wages and a lack of social support.
Additionally, the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September because she was not wearing a headscarf breathed new life into the demonstrations, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh measures.
U.S.-Iranian relations have also weakened over the failure to revive the nuclear deal that President Joseph Biden promised to restore when he ran for president.
Talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers remain deadlocked. In the absence of a deal, Tehran has scaled back its commitments to allow monitoring and providing additional information about its nuclear program.
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