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The White House announced that five American prisoners have been freed by Iran and are on their way back to the United States. In exchange for the prisoners, the U.S. released five Iranian prisoners and agreed to unfreeze $6 billion in oil revenue.
The freed U.S. citizens include Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi, and two others who wished to remain anonymous. Namazi's mother and Tahbaz's wife were also allowed to leave Iran as part of the deal.
The Iranian prisoners who will be freed were identified as Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, Mehrdad Ansari, Amin Hasanzadeh, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, and Kambiz Attar Kashani. They were all convicted of non-violent crimes. Two of the prisoners will return to Iran, one will relocate to Qatar, and the other two will remain in the United States.
U.S. officials have vowed that Iran will only be allowed to use the $6 billion for certain things, like purchasing food and medicine.
"These are Iranian funds, payments made by South Korea to Iran for purchases of oil years ago, including during the last administration," an official told The Hill. "These funds will be available only for transactions for humanitarian goods with vetted third-party non-Iranian vendors."