It’s delicate as a result of it entails some huge cash and it is delicate as a result of the US does not need anybody to suppose the deal displays some form of shift in America’s place on Iran.

This prisoner swap, or ‘consular deal’, represents a fragile diplomatic transfer and we are able to anticipate the Biden administration will run with the excellent news that comes with it.

“The president is making five families whole again and that’s what this is about,” one senior administration official advised me final night time.

It’s delicate as a result of it entails some huge cash and it is delicate as a result of the US does not need anybody to suppose the deal displays some form of shift in America’s place on Iran.

“This deal has not changed our relationship with Iran in any way. Iran is an adversary and a state sponsor of terrorism,” the administration official stated.

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The key controversy surrounds the $6bn value of Iranian money at present being held in South Korean banks.

As a part of the deal, the US has issued a selected waiver to its sanctions over Iran, permitting the funds to be transferred to Qatar for Iran to make use of for humanitarian functions.

“Medicine, medical devices, food and agriculture. That’s it,” the senior White House official stated.

Critics of the deal recommend it rewards Iran for taking prisoners and that there’s naivety in pondering Iran will not use the cash for nefarious functions.

Biden’s staff pushed again, with a senior administration official explaining: “First, these are not [American] taxpayer dollars. This is not a payment of any kind. No funds enter Iran ever, nor do any funds get paid to Iranian companies or entities.”

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Iran’s president says his govt will decide how it will spend money

Crucially, for Iran, the cash is extra accessible to them in Qatar than it’s in South Korea, however the plan is that it could possibly’t ever enter Iran itself. Instead it may be launched by Qatar to pay a non-Iranian firm for humanitarian items which then go to Iran.

“If Iran tries to divert the funds or use them for anything other than the limited humanitarian purposes authorised, we’ll take action to lock up the funds,” the official stated.