Washington and Tehran are one step away from a prisoner exchange. An agreement, in negotiation for several weeks, is about to be finalized. It also involves an important financial aspect. But this agreement is making American Republicans cringe.
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With our correspondent in Washington, Guillaume Naudin
Some 6 billion dollars should soon enter Iranian coffers. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress on Monday (September 11) that the administration will exempt banks in several countries from sanctions so that they can transfer funds to Iran.
These 6 billion dollars correspond to a bill owed by South Korea, a large consumer of Iranian oil. The amount is frozen since the Trump administration left the Iran nuclear deal and imposed heavy sanctions on Tehran.
This money will be transferred to the central bank of Qatar and used, according to sources in Washington, for humanitarian expenditure by the Islamic Republic. This will above all allow the release of five Americans or dual nationals detained in Iran. Four had already left Iranian jails at the beginning of August for house arrest, a sign of ongoing negotiations. In exchange, the United States will release five Iranians detained on its soil.
All this comes a few days before the United Nations General Assembly. The Iranian and American presidents will participate. Republican leaders denounce this agreement with a country they consider terrorist. And they point out that the announcement comes on the anniversary of attacks of September 11, 2001.