The United States will release five Iranians it has detained in exchange for Iran releasing five Americans as part of a prisoner swap agreement that also involves the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian assets after they are unfrozen in South Korea. Here is a brief overview of some of the detainees that Iran will release under the agreement:
* **Siavash Namazi**
Siavash Namazi (51 years old) is a businessman who holds both American and Iranian citizenship. He was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in 2015 while visiting his family in Tehran. Months later, authorities detained his ailing father, Baquer, after he returned to Iran to visit his imprisoned son. Both were sentenced to ten years in prison in 2016 on charges of spying and collaborating with the U.S. government. Baquer Namazi, a former provincial governor in Iran, was placed under house arrest in 2018 for medical reasons and left Iran in 2022 for treatment abroad. He also holds dual citizenship and previously worked for UNICEF.
* **Emad Sharqi**
Emad Sharqi (59 years old) and his wife moved to Iran in 2017 from the United States. Sharqi, a businessman with dual American and Iranian citizenship, was first arrested in 2018 while working for Sarafan Holding, a technology investment company. He was released on bail after eight months, and a revolutionary court acquitted him of espionage and other security-related charges, but he remained banned from traveling. In November 2020, another revolutionary court summoned him and sentenced him to ten years in prison for espionage. Initially free, Iranian media reported he was arrested while trying to flee Iran in January 2021.
* **Morad Tabaz**
Morad Tabaz, a 67-year-old environmental activist who holds American, Iranian, and British citizenship, was arrested in 2018. He was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2019 on charges of "gathering and colluding against the national security of Iran" and "contacts with the enemy American government for the purpose of espionage."
The identities of the fourth and fifth prisoners have not been disclosed. The number of American citizens detained in Iran remains unclear as their families and the U.S. government typically do not wish to publicize their names in hopes of securing their quiet release.
* **Iranian Prisoners in the United States**
The five Iranians that the United States will release are: Mehrdad Moein Ansari, Qambiz Attar Kashani, Reza Sarhankpour Kafrani, Amin Hassan-Zadeh, and Kaveh Afrasiabi, according to Iranian officials. Two Iranian officials stated that Afrasiabi will remain in the United States. Iran has long demanded the release of its citizens detained in the U.S. An Iranian judicial source told Reuters that there are at least 12 Iranian prisoners held by the United States primarily for "violating U.S. sanctions against Iran."
