The United States has confirmed that Iran has released five detained Americans from prison, although they remain under house arrest and negotiations are ongoing for their possible release, a spokesman for the National Security Council said on Thursday, Reuters and AFP reported.

“While this is an encouraging step, these American citizens (…) should never have been detained,” Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.

“Negotiations for their eventual release are still ongoing and remain delicate,” she added.

Among the Iranian-Americans allowed to leave prison are businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, Emad Sharghi, 58, and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who is also a British citizen, Jared Genser, a lawyer representing Namazi, told the News. ro.

The identity of the fourth US citizen, who was released from prison, has not been disclosed, as well as the fifth, who was already under house arrest.

Allowing the five to leave Iran, which could take weeks, would remove a major irritant between Washington and Tehran, which remain at loggerheads over issues ranging from Iran’s nuclear program to Tehran’s support for armed groups.

“We have received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans who were illegally detained and placed them under house arrest,” said US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson, who clarified that the five were not , they should have been detained. in the first place. “We will not rest until they all return home to the United States,” she added, saying “negotiations for their eventual release are ongoing and delicate.”

Iranian-Americans whose American citizenship is not recognized by Tehran are often pawns between the two states.

The five will be allowed to leave Iran after $6 billion in Iranian funds held in South Korea are unblocked, a Reuters source told Reuters, adding that more Iranians held in US custody will be released as part of a deal between Tehran and Washington. prisons

A second source familiar with indirect U.S.-Iranian talks said it could be weeks before U.S. citizens can leave Iran, with September as a possible deadline. This source confirmed that unlocking funds could be part of the deal.

However, if transferred from South Korean banks to another financial institution, the funds will be moved from one restricted account to another and can only be used for humanitarian purposes, such as buying food or medicine.

Any transfer of these funds could draw criticism from Republicans, who argue that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, thus effectively paid a ransom for American citizens and that Iran, using the money for humanitarian purposes, could free up other funds for its nuclear program. programs. programs or to support armed groups in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

Namazi, who was convicted in 2016 on espionage charges dismissed by the United States as unfounded, has been held in Iran for more than seven years. His father, Baker, was allowed to leave Iran in October for medical treatment after being detained on similar charges, which Washington also denies.

Tahbaz was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring against Iran’s national security and spying for the United States.

In 2020, Shargi was found guilty of espionage and also sentenced to 10 years.