• AutoTL;DRB
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    61 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Days before the Americans were released, Republican lawmakers in Washington blasted the deal, saying it amounted to a “ransom” payment and will only encourage Iran to imprison more foreigners.

    The families and some former hostages say the Biden administration had to use the leverage it had available to secure the freedom of the imprisoned U.S. citizens, or face the prospect of the Americans staying incarcerated indefinitely.

    A graduate of White Plains High School in New York and a business consultant with degrees from Tufts and Rutgers universities, he was arrested in 2015 and convicted of espionage in a trial that only lasted a few hours.

    As a first step in the prisoner exchange, the five Americans were placed under house arrest Aug. 10 with their release contingent on the transfer of the $6 billion in frozen oil revenues from South Korea to Qatar’s central bank.

    Iran’s use of the released funds will be overseen by Qatar, and restricted to the purchase of food, medicine or other items for humanitarian purposes as allowed under U.S. sanctions.

    Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, however, told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an exclusive interview that Tehran will decide how to spend the $6 billion.


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