The Biden administration is holding proxy talks with Iran over a possible prisoner swap in a bid to secure the release of US citizens jailed in Iran, with Qatar and the UK playing a brokering role in the talks, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The issue. .
Negotiations have progressed but it is unclear if a final deal will be reached, the sources said.
The White House push comes after months of negotiations aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal stalled and as the administration announced new sanctions against Tehran over its delivery of drones to Russia.
The two sides are exploring a previously discussed formula, dating back to 2021, that could include a possible prisoner swap and the release of billions of dollars in funds in South Korean banks currently blocked by US sanctions. USA said three sources with knowledge of the talks.
The proposed formula would allow Iran to access the funds, but only for the purchase of food, medicine or other humanitarian purposes, in accordance with existing US sanctions against Iran.
In discussions, US and Iranian diplomats have explored possible arrangements on how to transfer the frozen funds, with a third country such as Qatar possibly overseeing the transfer, the sources said.
This month, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. During the meeting, the Qatari delegation “transmitted messages from the United States to the Iranians that included points about the release of prisoners,” a source with knowledge of the talks said.
In an interview this month with NPR, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian said discussions were underway about a possible prisoner swap with third parties that help convey messages. He said a “UK official” was acting as a “proxy” for the US in the talks.
“The representative in question was in Iran in recent weeks and we updated the agreement we had in March,” he said. “We are ready to exchange our prisoners, but the Americans must take technical measures. We are waiting for the technical measures to be taken”.
When asked about possible proxy negotiations, the Biden administration suggested that it has methods of getting messages across to Iran.
“As we have said, we have ways to communicate with Iran on issues of concern, including the issue of the release of American citizens wrongfully detained in Iran. Those channels remain open, but we are not going to detail them,” said a State Department spokesperson.
“We remain committed to ensuring the freedom of all American citizens who continue to be wrongfully detained abroad, including Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, and Morad Tahbaz, and we continue to work to bring them home, but we have nothing to announce at this time. ”, added the spokesperson.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not respond to a request for comment.
The UK embassy in Washington declined to comment.
With the United States and Iran increasingly at odds over the advancement of the country’s nuclear program, anti-regime protests and Tehran’s drone deliveries to Russia, the window for negotiations on a prisoner exchange could close soon as Tensions are expected to rise in the coming months, experts and supporters of the policy said. imprisoned Americans.
“While it is understandable that the United States and the world are responding to Iran’s massive crackdown on nonviolent protests, President Biden cannot lose focus on the imperative to bring home American hostages,” said Jared Genser. , pro bono lawyer for Namazi, one of the three US citizens detained in Tehran. “I fear that when Iran’s widening nuclear activities are added to this mix, we are quickly running out of time to reach a hostage deal,” he added.
Namazi has been behind bars in Iran for more than seven years, longer than any other American in history. Iranian authorities sentenced him to 10 years on charges of “collaboration with a hostile foreign government.”
The United Nations, human rights organizations and the US government say the charges are baseless and that his detention is an arbitrary violation of international law.
Two other US citizens, Tahbaz and Sharghi, are jailed in Iran, as are an unknown number of legal permanent US residents, including Shahab Dalili. Families of jailed Americans believed their loved ones were close to being released in recent years, but potential deals collapsed.
Namazi has accused successive US administrations of failing to secure his release and recently went on a week-long hunger strike, appealing directly to President Joe Biden to meet with the families of imprisoned Americans.
“In the past, I have implored you to find your moral compass and find the resolve to bring home the American hostages in Iran. To no avail,” Namazi said in a letter written from his prison cell, addressed to Biden. “Not only are we still prisoners of Iran, but our families have not even been granted a reunion.”
Iran has denied jailing Americans and other foreigners on arbitrary charges and says the cases were handled in accordance with its laws.
A prisoner swap that included the release of some funds blocked by US sanctions would almost certainly draw sharp criticism from some lawmakers in Washington, particularly Republicans who have already accused Biden of not taking a tough enough stance toward Iran.
But Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, a think-tank, said there were political risks in failing to free the jailed Americans.
“There will be criticism of any deal with the Islamic Republic. But leaving American hostages will not be free either,” Váez said.
A similar prisoner swap deal in 2015 during the administration of President Barack Obama came under intense criticism.
Under that deal, the US approved the transfer of $400 million in cash to Tehran on the same day that Iran released four US prisoners and formally implemented the 2015 nuclear deal. The money, part of a settlement in a legal dispute decades with Iran, it was delivered on pallets by plane, prompting accusations from Republican lawmakers that the transfer amounted to ransom. The Obama administration rejected the criticism, saying it was used as “leverage” to secure the release of jailed Americans.
Having tried to revive the 2015 nuclear deal through diplomacy, the Biden administration has been increasing economic pressure on Iran and has sent a signal that military force remains an option if all other means fail to prevent for Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
The 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and placed strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for loosening US and international economic sanctions. Then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed a series of sanctions.
The United States and Israel last month conducted what the Pentagon called the largest joint military exercise in history, involving more than 140 aircraft and 12 warships.
Dubbed Juniper Oak, the exercise enhanced “the United States’ ability to respond to contingencies and underscores the United States’ commitment to the Middle East region,” the Pentagon said during the drill.
