Biden admin allows transfer of $6 billion restricted Iranian funds to free captive Americans

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has issued a waiver to allow banks to transfer $6 billion in restricted Iranian funds to Qatar without fear of sanctions – a key step in a deal to free five Americans who have been deemed wrongfully detained in Iran by the US State Department.

The process to bring the Americans home began to move forward in mid-August with the release of four Americans into house arrest. The issuance of the waiver – which the administration informed Congress about on Monday – is the clearest sign yet that the process may be reaching its end stages.

In the notice to Congress – a copy of which was obtained by CNN – Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the US has committed to allow the transfer of the $6 billion held in restricted South Korean accounts to restricted accounts in Qatar to be used for humanitarian goods. Qatar will oversee the disbursal of those funds.

“The transfer requires the involvement of financial institutions from Germany, Ireland, Qatar, the ROK, and Switzerland,” he wrote. The waiver, which Blinken approved on Friday, will allow those institutions to transfer the money to the accounts in Qatar without worry of invoking US sanctions. The waiver was first reported by the Associated Press.

Blinken also confirmed the prisoner swap component to the deal, noting that the US “has committed to release five Iranian nationals currently detained in the United States.”

In a statement to CNN, a State Department spokesperson described the waiver as “not new,” but rather “the technical approval for the transfer already announced.”

Iran agrees to free five US citizens for unlocking $6b in frozen assets

“As we have said previously, the US has agreed to allow the transfer of funds from South Korea to restricted accounts held in financial institutions in Qatar and the release of five Iranian nationals currently detained in the United States to facilitate the release of five U.S. citizens detained in Iran,” the spokesperson said, adding that the waiver’s signing marked “a critical step in securing the release of these five US citizens.”

“We continue to work to secure the release of the US citizens unjustly held by Iran, and we continue to monitor their health and welfare closely with the help of our Swiss partners, but we have no update to share at this time,” the spokesperson added.

Still, the development is likely to be welcome news to the families of the Americans involved in the deal – Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi, and two other Americans who have not been publicly identified – as it signals their nightmare may be coming to an end. Namazi, Tahbaz, and Shargi have all been detained in Iran for years.

The potential breakthrough came after more than a year of indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Web Desk