A plane carrying five Americans freed by Iran landed in the United States on Tuesday, a day after their exchange for the release of five Iranians detained in the United States and the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds as part of an agreement between the main enemies.
CNN reported that the plane had landed.
The report did not provide further details.
It followed a carefully choreographed exchange, agreed after months of Qatar-mediated talks, which was triggered on Monday when funds blocked in South Korea were transferred, via Switzerland, to banks in Doha.
After the transfer was confirmed, the five American prisoners and two of their relatives took off from Tehran on a Qatari plane just as two of the five Iranian detainees were landing in Doha to return home.
Three Iranians chose not to go to Iran.
The deal removes a point of friction between the United States, which calls Tehran a sponsor of terrorism, and Iran, which calls Washington the “Great Satan.”
But it is unclear whether this will bring the two adversaries, who have been at odds for 40 years, closer together on other issues, such as Iran’s nuclear program and its support for regional militias or the US military presence in the Gulf and US sanctions.
Among the released Americans are Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, dual US-Iranian nationals, both businessmen, as well as Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also has British citizenship.
Two of them have not been publicly identified.
NNt