We’ve heard from a few different analysts this morning, as we await confirmation that the expected prison swap is fully under way.
Iranian-born Professor Mehran Kamrava, who teaches at Georgetown University in Doha, told the BBC that both the US and Iran will be reasonably pleased with the deal.
“I think there’s a little bit of a win for both sides,” Kamrava said. “For Biden, heading into the election, he’s bringing Americans home. For Iran, there’s the release of Iranians in prison in the United States. But it’s that six billion dollars that’s a big win.”
Jason Brodsky from United Against Nuclear Iran and Middle East Institute’s Iran Programme told the BBC he did not think it was wise for the US to link the release of funds to the agreement.
“There is precedent for the United States to engage in deals to release American hostages in Iran without the release of financial assets and I think that’s the framework that we should be pursuing”, he said.
Senator Mitt Romney believes the deal may endanger more AmericansImage caption: Senator Mitt Romney believes the deal may endanger more Americans
In recent days we’ve seen news of the prisoner swap elicit mixed reactions from US lawmakers, with many Republicans harshly condemning the Biden administration over the deal.
One Republican – Utah senator and former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney – said the deal was a “horrible idea” that would lead to “more kidnappings”.
“That’s why you don’t negotiate with terrorists,” he was quoted as saying by The Hill. “That’s why you don’t negotiate with kidnappers”.
Similar statements have come in from several of the current candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, including Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, who alleged – without any evidence – that Joe Biden was receiving “kickbacks” from the deal.
While the White House and State Department have both defended the swap, reaction from Democrats has been considerably more muted.
Speaking to reporters last week, New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, acknowledged that there were “concerns” about the deal, although he did not criticise it.
Senator Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate intelligence committee, said in an interview with CBS on Sunday that he hadn’t been briefed and that he hoped the Biden administration would provide more details on the “guardrails” put in place to govern how Iran used the money released as part of the deal.
Once the swap is complete, we are very likely to get more reaction from both sides of the US political spectrum – stay with us.
We’re at the old international airport here in Doha and it will soon be the scene of an extraordinary political moment – a rare moment of cooperation between Iran and the United States.
This is where we are expecting five American prisoners to touch down, where they will be met on the tarmac by American and Qatari officials before finally going home to the US.
Families of those from the US will be hoping that they will be home soon.
This will be the end of a deeply painful, personal ordeal for these Americans.
But it is a moment laced with profound trauma and also with guilt, because they know they will be leaving friends behind who are still behind Iranian bars.
The five American prisoners are reportedly being transported to a Qatari aircraft to leave Iran, according to a source speaking to Reuters.
While we wait for updates on the transfer of the American citizens to Qatar, let’s take a look at what we heard earlier today from the Iranian foreign ministry.
Spokesperson Nasser Kanaan confirmed that based on the information that he has, the five citizens of Iran in US prisons will be released today and five US citizens who have been imprisoned in Iran would be “delivered to the American side”.
Speaking at a press conference about the swap, he also talked about the transfer of the funds, which was a precondition of the deal. He said: “We hope to see the complete repossession of assets by the Islamic Republic of Iran today.”
Source BBC News
