The United States and Iran will each free five detainees under an exchange agreement that also involves the transfer of $6 billion unfrozen Iranian assets from South Korea, Reuters reports.
Following are the U.S. citizens imprisoned in Iran who will be released under the deal:
SIAMAK NAMAZI
Siamak Namazi, 51, a businessman with dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship, was detained in 2015 by the Revolutionary Guards while visiting his family in Tehran. Months later his ailing father, Baquer, was detained after returning to Iran to visit his jailed son. They were both sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison for allegedly spying and cooperating with the U.S. government.
EMAD SHARGHI
In 2017 Sharghi and his wife moved to Iran from the United States. The Iranian-American businessman, 59, was first arrested in 2018 when working for Saravan Holding, a tech investment company. He was released on bail after eight months and a Revolutionary Court cleared him of spying and security-related charges, but his travel ban remained.
MORAD TAHBAZ
An Iranian-American environmentalist, 67, who also holds British citizenship, Tahbaz was detained in 2018. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2019 for "assembly and collusion against Iran's national security" and "contacts with U.S. enemy government … for the purpose of spying”.
The fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified. It is not clear how many U.S. citizens are detained in Iran, since families and the U.S. government often do not wish to publicize the cases in the hope of quietly securing their release.
