VOA新闻杂志2023--U.S., Iran to Exchange Prisoners

U.S., Iran to Exchange Prisoners

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that seven Americans have been released by Iran after the nations agreed to a prisoner exchange also involving Qatar and South Korea.

South Korea said on Monday it is working with the United States and Iran to release restrictions¹ on $6 billion of frozen Iranian money. The U.S. is releasing the money as part of the prisoner exchange.

The money is being transferred to Qatar. Then, seven people with dual² U.S. citizenship³, who have been imprisoned⁴ or detained in Iran, are expected to leave Tehran for Doha. Officials told Reuters news service that, from there, they will travel to the United States. Qatar mediated⁶ the deal during months of talks.

In return, five Iranians detained in the U.S. will be released so they can travel to Iran. Iranian officials and Iran's state news agency have said one of those detainees is expected to remain in the United States.

The exact timing⁷ of the transfer of the money has yet to be announced.

The deal was first made public on August 10. But the countries continue to disagree on many issues. They include Iran's nuclear program, Iran's effort to influence the Persian Gulf⁸ area, U.S. sanctions and America's military presence in the Persian Gulf.

South Korea is "currently making efforts to ensure smooth progress of all procedures so that it will be resolved once and for all," the country's foreign ministry⁹ said in a statement.

The U.S. dual citizens to be released include 51-year-old Siamak Namazi and 59-year-old Emad Sharqi, both businessmen, and 67-year-old Morad Tahbaz, an environmentalist. Tahbaz also holds British nationality. Iran released them from prison and put them under house arrest last month.

A fourth U.S. citizen was also released into house arrest, while a fifth was already under house arrest. Their identities have not been released.

Iranian officials named the five Iranians to be released by the U.S. as: Mehrdad Moin-Ansari, Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, Amin Hassanzadeh and Kaveh Afrasiabi. Two Iranian officials said Afrasiabi would remain in the United States.

As a first step in the deal, the United States suspended sanctions to permit the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar. The money had been blocked in South Korea, which is normally one of Iran's largest oil buyers, because of U.S. sanctions.

Under the agreement, Qatar agreed to monitor how Iran uses the money to ensure it goes to non-sanctioned humanitarian¹⁰ goods, like food and medicine.

The transfer of Iran's money has faced criticism from U.S. lawmakers including opposition¹¹ Republican Party members. They said the deal is equal to paying a ransom¹² for U.S. citizens. The administration of President Joe Biden has defended the deal.

Qatar held at least eight sets of talks involving Iranian and U.S. negotiators. The negotiators worked from separate hotels. People told Reuters that they exchanged proposals through Qatari mediators. Earlier talks dealt mainly with the nuclear issue. Later, talks turned to the prisoner releases.

Words in This Story

transfer –v. to move something from one place to another

dual — adj. having qualities of two different things

mediate⁵ — v. to aid negotiations¹³ between sides opposing sides in an effort to reach an agreement

sanction —n. measures taken against a country or individual aimed at making them observe local or international law usually in the form of economic restrictions

monitor –v. to watch or observe for a special purpose over a long period of time

ransom — n. money that is paid to free someone who has been captured or kidnapped

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

3 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

4 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

5 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

6 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。