Release of Hostages in Iran May Be Linked to U.S. Sanctions Relief
Iranian state media reports have linked Tehran’s one-week furlough of an American hostage on Saturday to a potentially forthcoming U.S. sanctions waiver authorizing the transfer to Iran of $7 billion. These funds are currently frozen in South Korea. While the National Security Council was quick to deny such a linkage, the Biden administration did not confirm or deny whether it would authorize the release of the $7 billion — a step previously reported as part of the sequencing of a new nuclear deal. In addition to its release of the hostage, Iranian-American Siamak Namazi, Tehran allowed his ailing father, Iranian-American Baquer Namazi, to leave the country. Iran imprisoned the elder Namazi from 2016 to 2018 and has since barred him from exiting Iran.