US President Joe Biden's administration has paved the way for a prisoner swap deal with Iran, signing permits to release $6 billion of Tehran's frozen funds.
The State Department said Secretary Antony Blinken on Friday signed authorizations to transfer $6 billion of frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to accounts in Qatar.
CNN reported that Blinken assured Congress that Qatar would oversee the disbursement of Iranian funds to be transferred from South Korea.
For his part, a spokesman for the US State Department told Al Jazeera that Blinken's signing of the transfer of funds is a crucial step to secure the release of 5 American citizens, explaining that these funds will be used for humanitarian purposes only.
In the context, the Associated Press quoted informed US sources as saying that the Biden administration agreed within the agreement to release 5 Iranian citizens detained in the United States.
On Qatar's role, the Washington Post said Doha played an important role in facilitating discussions for the release of American prisoners.
Iran's ambassador to Qatar, Hamid Dehghani, said the Iranian-US prisoner exchange agreement was in its final stages.
He added that he met with Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, and discussed with him bilateral relations between the two countries, and the Iranian-American agreement for the exchange of prisoners.
Transfers via Doha
Bloomberg reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Congress and foreign banks of the transfer of $ 6 billion to Iran through Doha.
Blinken assured Congress that the $6 billion would be held in restricted accounts in Qatar, where it would be available for trade for humanitarian needs only.
On August 10, Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, revealed what the ministry reported on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that the mediation carried out by Doha between the United States and Iran reached the agreement that would release prisoners.
On August 12, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin, announced the release of all his country's frozen balances in South Korea, explaining that they will be deposited in the European currency (euro) soon in the accounts of 6 Iranian banks.
The United States has conditioned the use of these funds in purchases and channels that serve citizens in Iran, with Blinken quoted as saying last month that the money would be placed in restricted accounts to ensure that it was not used for anything that contradicted sanctions on Tehran.