In a rare agreement between the longtime rivals, a U.S.-bound plane carrying five Americans released by Iran left Doha on Monday (September 18, 2023) in exchange for five Iranians jailed in the country and the payment of $6 billion in Iranian assets.
President Joe Biden of the United States made a statement saying, “Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home,” just as the American captives descended the stairs of a Qatari jet in Doha.
The White House confirmed that a jet carrying the five and two American family members who had earlier left Tehran with them was on its way to the United States, where the U.S. military would provide medical care as they adapt to freedom again.
Separately, Iran’s state-run Press TV said that two of the five Iranians who were being imprisoned by the United States on charges of committing crimes had arrived in Tehran. The report appeared to be a reference to their being granted clemency.
“This was purely a humanitarian action,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said after arriving in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly. “It can certainly be a step based upon which in the future other humanitarian actions can be taken.”
The exchange’s potential to advance the several points of contention between the two countries—such as Iran’s nuclear program, its backing of local Shi’ite militias, the presence of American troops in the Gulf, and American sanctions against Iran—was unknown.
