The United States has reached a $6 billion deal with Iran to release five American prisoners from prison, reports say.
The Iranian Americans, Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz, as well as two unnamed prisoners, had all been held on charges of espionage at the notorious Evin Prison and are now under house arrest at a Tehran hotel, it reported. The New York Times.
According to the newspaper, the US government will release $6 billion in oil assets and a number of Iranian prisoners will also be released.
The group will be held in the hotel for several weeks before being allowed to board a plane and leave the country, said Jared Genser, Mr Namazi’s lawyer.
One of the unnamed Americans is a scientist and the other is a businessman, sources told the newspaper. Another prisoner, an American woman, has already been placed under house arrest.
“Iran’s move of U.S. hostages from Evin Prison to expected house arrest is an important development,” Me Genser told CNN. “While I hope this is the first step towards their eventual release, at best this is the beginning of the end and nothing more.”
