DUBAI: Iran on Tuesday identified the five prisoners it hopes to see freed in the United States in exchange for five Iranian-Americans now held in Tehran and billions in assets once held by South Korea.
The acknowledgment by the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York comes as the Biden administration has issued a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of US sanctions.
The moves by both Tehran and Washington appear to signal the prisoner swap is progressing as the money once held in South Korean won is converted into euros and moved to Qatar, where Iran will be able to use it for humanitarian purposes.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Ali Karimi Magham, a spokesman for the Iranian mission, confirmed the list of prisoners that Tehran wants released.
The five sought by the Iranians are:
— Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, an Iranian charged in 2021 with allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent on Iran’s behalf while lobbying US officials on issues like nuclear policy;
— Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear;
— Amin Hasanzadeh, an Iranian and permanent resident of the United States whom prosecutors charged in 2019 with allegedly stealing engineering plans from his employer to send to Iran;
— Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran; and
— Kambiz Attar Kashani, an Iranian-American sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for purchasing “sophisticated, top-tier US electronic equipment and software” through front companies in the United Arab Emirates.
The US State Department declined to comment, citing “the sensitivity of this ongoing process.”
The news website Al-Monitor, relying on a statement from the Iranian mission, first reported the Iranians’ identities on Monday.
On the US side, Washington seeks the release of Siamak Namazi, who was detained in Iran in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
The fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified. All five are under house arrest at a hotel in Tehran.
US Republicans have criticized the possibility of an exchange, which is under discussion amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West over its nuclear program, as well as a series of ship seizures and attacks attributed to Tehran.
The Pentagon is considering a plan to put US troops on board commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of all oil shipments pass moving out of the Arabian Gulf.
A major deployment of US sailors and Marines, alongside F-35s, F-16s and other military aircraft, is also underway in the region. Meanwhile, Iran supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites during its war in Ukraine.
Iran identifies 5 prisoners it wants from US in swap for Iranian-Americans
https://arab.news/jzbvy
Iran identifies 5 prisoners it wants from US in swap for Iranian-Americans
- Biden administration issued blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money
- Tehran and Washington appear to signal the prisoner swap is progressing
Lufthansa group suspends Tel Aviv flights following Houthi attacks on Israel
- Airline group Lufthansa will suspend its flights to Tel Aviv through May 25
BERLIN: Airline group Lufthansa will suspend its flights to Tel Aviv through May 25, it said on Thursday, citing the “current situation.”
This affects flights operated by Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, ITA Airways, Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo, it added.
Global airlines have again halted their flights to and from Tel Aviv after a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis toward Israel on May 4 landed near the country’s main international airport in Tel Aviv.
Madinah municipality continues intensive food safety inspections
MADINAH: Food safety inspections have been stepped up ahead of the arrival of Hajj pilgrims, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.
The Madinah Regional Municipality has carried out routine testing of commercial establishments, with 4,165 samples to date confirmed as conforming to approved standards. So far, 186 samples have been deemed unfit for human consumption.
The municipality emphasized the importance of adhering to health standards for the safety of consumers. Individuals are encouraged to report any food safety concerns via the hotline on 940 or through other official communication channels.
Jordan evacuates second group of cancer patients from Gaza
AMMAN: Jordan’s government on Wednesday began evacuating four child cancer patients and 12 family members from Gaza.
They are the second group of patients evacuated for treatment under the Jordan Medical Corridor initiative, started in March this year, that aims to treat 2,000 Gazan children.
The children and their families were evacuated by the Royal Jordanian Air Force in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.
They will be treated at the King Hussein Cancer Center.
The first evacuees were 29 children and 44 family members. Seventeen of these children have since returned to Gaza with their families after completing their treatment.
Trump says US close to a nuclear deal with Iran
- Trump says the US is in serious negotiations with Iran to reach a long-term peace
DUBAI: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms.
“We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a shared pool report by AFP.
“We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this... there (are) two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way,” he said.
An Iranian source familiar with the negotiations said there were still gaps to bridge in the talks with the United States.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.
Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new deal and avert future military action.
Iran’s president reacted to Trump’s comments on Tuesday calling Tehran the “most destructive force” in the Middle East.
“Trump thinks he can sanction and threaten us and then talk of human rights. All the crimes and regional instability is caused by them (the United States),” Masoud Pezeshkian said.
“He wants to create instability inside Iran.”
US officials have publicly stated that Iran should halt uranium enrichment, a stance Iranian officials have called a “red line” asserting they will not give up what they view as their right to enrich uranium on Iranian soil.
However, they have indicated a willingness to reduce the level of enrichment.
Iranian officials have also expressed readiness to reduce the amount of highly enriched uranium in storage— uranium enriched beyond the levels typically needed for civilian purposes, such as nuclear power generation.
However, they have said it would not accept lower stockpiles than the amount agreed in a deal with world powers in 2015 — the deal Trump quit.
The Iranian source said that while Iran is prepared to offer what it considers concessions, “the issue is that America is not willing to lift major sanctions in exchange.”
Western sanctions have severely impacted the Iranian economy.
Regarding the reduction of enriched uranium in storage, the source noted: “Tehran also wants it removed in several stages, which America doesn’t agree with either.”
There is also disagreement over the destination to which the highly enriched uranium would be sent, the source added.
54 people killed in overnight airstrikes on southern Gaza city, hospital says
- Some bodies arrived in pieces, with some body bags containing the remains of multiple people
- There had been hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS: A hospital in southern Gaza says 54 people have been killed in overnight airstrikes on the city of Khan Younis.
An Associated Press cameraman in Khan Younis counted 10 airstrikes on the city overnight into Thursday, and saw numerous bodies taken to the morgue in the city’s Nasser Hospital. Some bodies arrived in pieces, with some body bags containing the remains of multiple people. The hospital’s morgue confirmed 54 people had been killed.
It was the second night of heavy bombing, after airstrikes Wednesday on northern and southern Gaza killed at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children.
The strikes come as US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East, visiting Gulf states but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.
