On Politics

Mon Sep 18 2023

Marina Pitofsky | Associate Editor/Politics

Hi there OnPolitics readers. After the Biden administration negotiated a prisoner exchange with Iran, five Americans imprisoned in the country are en route to the United States.

A plane carrying the Americans, plus two of their family members, left Iran early Monday morning, USA TODAY's Kim Hjelmgaard, Josh Meyer, Francesca Chambers and Michael Collins reported.

What did Iran get in return? As part of the deal, $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil revenues was released by the Biden administration, and five Iranians charged or convicted of non-violent crimes were freed by the United States.

Who was freed? Three of the American prisoners, all dual U.S.-Iran citizens, are Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz. Two of the other former prisoners did not want their identities released.

What's the backdrop? The exchange comes before a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week, where President Joe Biden and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will both speak. It also comes as the American president seeks his second term in office, and Republican presidential candidates in recent weeks have blasted the Biden administration's decision to push ahead with the prisoner exchange.

More on what's in the deal, and why now: Iran releases five Americans in prisoner swap deal negotiated by Joe Biden

Hear their stories: Americans freed from Iran prison feared they had been left to 'rot'

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