Iran places five Iranian-Americans on house arrest amid report of planned prisoner swap

Iran placed five Iranian Americans on house arrest Thursday amid reports of a planned prisoner swap between Washington and Tehran. 

The two countries have reached an agreement to exchange the incarcerated Americans for several imprisoned Iranians and for the U.S. to unfreeze Iran's access to about $6 billion in oil revenue, The New York Times reported citing people familiar with the matter.

"The move by Iran of the American hostages from Evin Prison to house arrest is an important development," said Jared Gensler, a lawyer for American prisoner Siamak Namazi.

Namazi, as well as Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz, were all imprisoned by the Islamic Republic on unsubstantiated charges of spying. The other two imprisoned Americans have not been identified by their families, but one is a scientist and the other is a businessman, per people briefed on the matter.

Four of the Americans were transferred from Iran's notorious Evin Prison on Thursday to a hotel in Tehran, where they will stay for several weeks until they are allowed to leave via airplane, Gensler said.

Another prisoner, identified as an American woman, had reportedly been released earlier to house arrest.

The Biden administration is planning on releasing Iranian nationals serving prison time for violating sanctions on Iran, according to reports. Additionally, the U.S. will transfer nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets in South Korea to an account in Qatar's central bank as part of the purported deal.

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