US Citizens Detained in Iran Moved to House Arrest: Hope for Release Amidst Potential Thaw in US-Iran Relations

In a significant development, four US citizens who were detained in Iran have been moved from Evin prison to house arrest, according to their lawyer, Jared Genser. The individuals include businessmen Siamak Namazi and Emad Shargi, as well as environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who also holds British nationality.

The identity of the fourth US citizen has not been disclosed. Genser expressed hope that this move is a step towards their eventual release, but noted that there are no guarantees about what happens next. This development could potentially alleviate tensions between the United States and Iran, although both nations still have disagreements on various issues.

Iran has confirmed that they have placed the five American prisoners, including the aforementioned four individuals, under house arrest in exchange for the release of Iranians held in the United States and the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets. The deal, mediated by a third country, involves the transfer of the frozen funds in South Korea to an account in Qatar that Iran can access.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called the release of the five Americans a positive step, but emphasized that the United States will continue to enforce all its sanctions on Iran. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson acknowledged that Iran has transferred the five detainees to house arrest and expressed support for their eventual release.

She highlighted that these individuals should have never been detained in the first place and that negotiations for their release remain ongoing and delicate. However, two Iranian-born US permanent residents, Jamshid Sharmahd and Shahab Dalili, who have been jailed in Iran for years, were not part of the transfer to house arrest, leaving their families concerned.

Sharmahd, an opposition figure and dual citizen of Germany and Iran, has been sentenced to death in Iran on charges of orchestrating a bombing in 2008. Dalili, a retired Iranian ship captain residing in the US, was arrested during a visit to Iran in 2016 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of cooperating with a hostile government.

The families of Sharmahd and Dalili have pleaded for their release and expressed disappointment that they were not included in the recent developments. The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, signed into law in 2020, obligates US authorities to secure the safe recovery of US nationals wrongfully detained abroad, including US permanent residents.

Babak Namazi, the brother of detainee Siamak Namazi, expressed gratitude that his brother is being moved out of Evin prison but emphasized the family's desire for his ultimate release and reunion with loved ones. While the recent move has been seen as a positive change, it is expected to take weeks before the US citizens are allowed to leave Iran. The September timeframe has been suggested for their potential release.

Namazi, who was arrested in 2015, Tahbaz, an environmentalist, and Shargi, a businessman, were all arrested in separate incidents. They are dual US-Iranian citizens and have been held in Iran for several years. This development is part of an emerging deal that is expected to involve the unfreezing of $6 billion in assets to Iran and the release of additional Iranian detainees in the US. The details of the exchange and the identities of the released Iranians have not been disclosed in the media.