A Qatari jet took off with the five prisoners, two relatives, and a Qatari ambassador, according to a source who spoke to the BBC.
“They are in good health,” an Iranian official briefed on the process said about the detainees.
In return, five Iranians detained in the US will be released. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said two Iranians would return to Iran while two would stay in the US at their request. One detainee would join his family in a third country, he added.
The five Iranian prisoners were identified as Mehrdad Moein Ansari, Kambiz Attar Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour Kofrani, Amin Hassanzadeh, and Kaveh Lotfollah Afrasiabi.
They had been held in American jails illegally and under the pretext of violating US sanctions. Their release came under a prisoner exchange agreement with the US.
Officially announced on August 10, the deal will also see the release of five Americans from Iran’s prisons.
The prisoner swap followed two years of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
The Islamic Republic has emphasized that the exchange of prisoners is a completely humanitarian issue.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kan’ani said the funds, blocked in South Korea after US sanctions on Iran were hardened in 2018, would be available to Tehran on Monday.
MNA/PR
