Official says 5 prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran have flown out of Tehran

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : Months ago, Iran had anticipated getting as much as $7 billion.
55% : Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
54% : Four American captives, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, flew home from Iran at the time, and several Iranians in the U.S. won their freedom.
53% : A Qatar Airways plane landed Monday morning at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, according to flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP.
50% : "Five imprisoned citizens who were in Iran will be given to the U.S. side.
48% : "He said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S.The official said that both Iranian and U.S. officials had been notified by Qatar that the money had been transferred to the Gulf Arab nation, which serves as a go-between for the U.S. and Iran.
47% : DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Five prisoners sought by the U.S. in a swap with Iran flew out of Tehran on Monday, an official said.Flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP showed a Qatar Airways flight take off at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, which has been used for exchanges in the past.
47% : That same day, then-President Barack Obama's administration airlifted $400 million in cash to Tehran.
45% : SEE ALSO: Iran blocks nuclear inspectors after U.S. unfreezes billions of dollars for TehranKanaani made his comments during a news conference aired on state television, but the feed cut immediately after his remarks.
44% : Iranian state media soon after said the flight had left Tehran.
44% : Their most recent major exchange happened in 2016, when Iran came to a deal with world powers to restrict its nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions.
42% : Iranian government officials have largely concurred with that explanation, though some hard-liners have insisted, without providing evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
40% : The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran -- but had not yet paid -- for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
40% : While the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to produce "several" bombs, months more would likely be needed to build a weapon and potentially miniaturize it to put it on a missile -- if Iran decided to pursue one.
39% : But the advances in its program have led to fears of a wider regional conflagration as Israel, itself a nuclear power, has said it would not allow Tehran to develop the bomb.
36% : The announcement by Kanaani comes weeks after Iran said that five Iranian-Americans had been transferred from prison to house arrest as part of a confidence-building move.
36% : From the following year on, a series of attacks and ship seizures attributed to Iran have raised tensions.
35% : Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
33% : Despite the deal, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in various disputes, including over Tehran's nuclear program.
29% : Iran has taken steps in recent months to settle some issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
28% : The deal has also already opened U.S. President Joe Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say that the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies.
24% : Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. intelligence community has kept its assessment that Iran is not pursuing an atomic bomb.
21% : The five prisoners Iran has said it seeks are mostly held over allegedly trying to export banned material to Iran, such as dual use electronics that can be used by the military.
18% : Iran also supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites in Ukraine in its war on Kyiv, which remains another major dispute between Tehran and Washington.___
14% : The West accuses Iran of using foreign prisoners -- including those with dual nationality -- as bargaining chips, an allegation Tehran rejects.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.