Iran aims to free 5 prisoners as part of U.S. deal

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran on Tuesday identified the five prisoners it hopes to see freed in the United States in exchange for five Iranian-Americans now held in Tehran and billions in assets once held by South Korea.

The acknowledgment by Iran comes as the Biden administration has issued a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money without fear of U.S. sanctions.

The moves by both Tehran and Washington appear to signal the prisoner swap is progressing as the money once held in South Korean won is converted into euros and moved to Qatar, where Iran will be able to use it for humanitarian purposes.

The five sought by the Iranians are:

• Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, an Iranian charged in 2021 with allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent on Iran’s behalf while lobbying U.S. officials on issues like nuclear policy;

• Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military

gear; • Amin Hasanzadeh, an Iranian and permanent U.S. resident charged in 2019 with allegedly stealing engineering plans from his employer to send to Iran;

• Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran; and

• Kambiz Attar Kashani, an Iranian-American sentenced to 30 months in prison for purchasing “sophisticated, top-tier U.S. electronic equipment and software” through front companies in the United Arab Emirates.

On the U.S. side, Washington seeks the release of Siamak Namazi, detained in Iran in 2015 and later sentenced to in prison on internationally criticized spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.

The fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified.

U.S. Republicans have criticized the possibility of an exchange amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West over its nuclear program, as well as a series of ship seizures and attacks attributed to Tehran.