Iran’s Raisi says five Americans were released purely on humanitarian grounds.

On Monday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said that Tehran’s release of five American inmates was a “purely humanitarian action” as they departed Iran under a Qatar-mediated arrangement that included releasing $6 billion in Iranian cash in South Korea.

“This was simply humanitarian in nature… And it may surely be a starting point for future humanitarian measures,” Raisi told journalists after arriving in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Iranian officials said the five Iranians detained by the US and charged with crimes had been released, implying they had been granted amnesty. Two have landed in Doha, according to US and Iranian sources.

It was unclear whether the meeting would progress on the arch-enemies’ numerous contentious topics, such as Iran’s nuclear program, Tehran’s support for regional Shi’ite militias, US troops in the Gulf, and US sanctions against Iran.
“Unfortunately, history has demonstrated a lack of trust in the United States because it has repeatedly trampled on commitments and broken promises,” Raisi added.

Iranian officials have not excluded indirect contacts between Tehran and Washington in New York to resurrect Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six states, which then-US President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.