Iran puts 5 Iranian-American prisoners under house arrest in possible swap

Iran has released five imprisoned Iranian-Americans to house arrest in what may be the US adversary’s latest attempt to convince the White House to unfreeze billions in Iranian assets in exchange for the detainees’ release.

While National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson called Tehran’s move an “encouraging step,” she said the US citizens “should never have been detained in the first place.”

“We have received confirmation that Iran has released from prison five Americans who were unjustly detained and has placed them on house arrest,” Watson said. “We will continue to monitor their condition as closely as possible.”

“Of course, we will not rest until they are all back home in the United States,” she added.

The detainees, dubbed “American hostages” in a statement by US-based attorney Jared Genser, include Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, and Morad Tahbaz and two other unnamed individuals.

“The move by Iran of the American hostages from Evin Prison to an expected house arrest is an important development,” Namazi’s pro bono counsel said. “While I hope this will be the first step to their ultimate release, this is at best the beginning of the end and nothing more.”

“But there are simply no guarantees about what happens from here,” he added.

However, Namazi’s family received “direct visual confirmation” Thursday morning that the named prisoners had “been taken from Evin Prison on their way to house arrest,” the lawyer said in his statement.

“While the fourth American was not directly seen leaving, given their joint presence in the prison office, it is believed that this fourth American has been moved with the other three,” Genser said just before Watson confirmed their release. “It appears a fifth American, an unnamed woman whose detention was only recently made public, is already under house arrest.”

The White House had notified the families of four of the prisoners on Wednesday that the move was expected, the attorney said.

“It is anticipated that the four prisoners will be held at a hotel under guard by Iranian officials under house arrest,” Genser said. “Their conditions are expected to be no worse than what they had while detained at Evin Prison.”

“This should mean, for example, that they will be able to spend time with each other and also make calls to family,” he added.

Still, it remained unclear Thursday afternoon whether Iran was any closer to returning the detainees to the United States. Tehran has sought access to assets frozen abroad, particularly some $7 billion tied up in South Korean banks.

Namazi’s brother, Babak Namazi, in a statement called the move a “positive change,” he said his family “will not rest until Siamak and others are back home.”

“We continue to count the days until this can happen,” he said. “We have suffered tremendously and indescribably for eight horrific years and wish only to be reunited again as a family.”

Watson said the US would continue working for their eventual release, but said the negotiations with Iran “remain ongoing and are delicate.”

“We will, therefore, have little in the way of details to provide about the state of their house arrest or about our efforts to secure their freedom,” she said.