Connect with us

Published

on

A British national and four Americans who were released from detention by Iran in exchange for $6bn (£4.8bn) and a prisoner swap are now free after landing in Doha.

The group’s plane touched down in Qatar’s capital shortly after 3.30pm UK time following their departure from Tehran earlier on Monday.

The British man freed is environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who has British, US and Iranian citizenship.

He was among the dual nationals being held at the time negotiations were under way involving the UK government to free former detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

The men were joined on the flight by two family members and the Qatari ambassador to Iran, a source told Reuters. It is thought they will now fly on to the US.

The $6bn (£4.8bn) funds, once frozen in South Korea, were released in Qatar after the Biden administration issued a waiver for international banks to transfer frozen Iranian money without the repercussions of US sanctions, an Iranian official announced on state television.

The deal also included the release of five unnamed Iranian citizens held in the US.

More on Iran

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said earlier: “The issue of swap of prisoners will be done on this day and five prisoners, citizens of the Islamic Republic, will be released from the prisons in the US.

“Five imprisoned citizens who were in Iran will be given to the US side reciprocally, based on their will. We expect these two issues [to] fully take place based on agreement.”

It comes weeks after Iran said the five were released from prison and placed under house arrest.

Iran-US prisoner swap represents delicate diplomatic move

This prisoner swap, or ‘consular deal’, represents a delicate diplomatic move and we can expect the Biden administration will run with the good news that comes with it.

“The president is making five families whole again and that’s what this is about,” one senior administration official told me last night.

It’s delicate because it involves a lot of money and it’s delicate because the US doesn’t want anyone to think the deal reflects some sort of shift in America’s position on Iran.

“This deal has not changed our relationship with Iran in any way. Iran is an adversary and a state sponsor of terrorism,” the administration official said.

The key controversy surrounds the $6bn worth of Iranian cash currently being held in South Korean banks.

As part of the deal, the US has issued a specific waiver to its sanctions over Iran, allowing the funds to be transferred to Qatar for Iran to use for humanitarian purposes.

“Medicine, medical devices, food and agriculture. That’s it,” the senior White House official said.

All been jailed at notorious prison

The US-Iranian dual nationals released by Iran include businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Shargi, 58.

Together with Mr Tahbaz, they had all been jailed at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran on spying charges.

The identity of the fourth and fifth prisoners to be released has not been made public.

Two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the US, two will fly to Iran and one detainee will join his family in a third country, an Iranian official said.

Read more on this story:
Iran’s president says his govt will decide how it will spend US money

British national among those being released

London-born Mr Tahbaz was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for “assembly and collusion against Iran’s national security” and working for the US as a spy.

He has – at various stages – been the subject of ongoing negotiations for his release involving British authorities, including when Dominic Raab and Liz Truss were foreign secretaries.

He was temporarily released on the same day charity worker Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and retired civil engineer Anoosheh Ashoori were freed, but was later returned to custody.

His daughter Roxanne had been among those calling on the UK government to do more to get him released.

He is a prominent conservationist and board member of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which seeks to protect endangered species.

Roxanne Tahbaz, holds a picture of her father Morad Tahbaz, who is jailed in Iran, during a protest outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, which houses the office of the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss after what she says has been a betrayal of her father by the UK Government.
Image:
Roxanne Tahbaz holds a picture of her father Morad Tahbaz during a protest outside the Foreign Office in London

Mr Namazi was convicted in 2016 of espionage-related charges the US has rejected as baseless and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Mr Shargi was convicted of espionage in 2020 and also sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The money from South Korea represents funds Seoul owed Iran, but had not yet paid, for oil purchased before Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.

The US maintains the money will be held in restricted accounts in Qatar and will only be able to be used for humanitarian goods such as medicine and food – transactions allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear programme.

The West has accused Iran of using foreign prisoners as bargaining chips, an allegation Tehran rejects.

Continue Reading

US

Trump says he will cancel all Biden executive orders ‘signed with autopen’

Published

on

By

Trump says he will cancel all Biden executive orders 'signed with autopen'

Donald Trump has said he will cancel all executive orders that he claims were signed with an autopen by his predecessor Joe Biden.

The US president alleged Mr Biden was “not involved” in signing the orders and claimed “the radical left lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the presidency away from him”. He did not provide any evidence for his claims.

An autopen is a device which reproduces a person’s signature, allowing them to repeatedly sign documents without having to do so by hand each time.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said: “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect.

“The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States.”

He added: “I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally.

“Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury.”

Read more from Sky News:
Trump: Land ops against Venezuela starting ‘very soon’
US to review immigration from 19 countries after shooting

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden was not mentally capable by the end of his term and his staff made decisions on his behalf, using an autopen to sign them off without his knowledge.

Mr Trump has not provided any evidence for his claims, while Mr Biden and his former aides have denied they made decisions on his behalf.

In June, Mr Biden said: “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency.

“I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”

Mr Trump has also used an autopen, but claimed he only used it “for very unimportant papers”.

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Trump trolls Biden with new ‘presidential portrait’

Earlier this year, Mr Trump replaced a portrait of Mr Biden in the Oval Office with a picture of an autopen signing the former president’s name.

Continue Reading

US

Suspect in US National Guard shooting now facing first-degree murder charge

Published

on

By

Suspect in US National Guard shooting now facing first-degree murder charge

The suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington DC is facing a first-degree murder charge.

It follows the death of one of the soldiers, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom.

The other soldier, Andrew Wolfe, 24, was taken to hospital in critical condition after the incident on Wednesday afternoon. On Friday, West Virginia’s governor said Wolfe remained in a “very critical condition”.

Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom. Pic: Reuters

US attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said the suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, now faces charges including one count of first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.

Pirro said there are “many charges to come” beyond the upgraded murder charge and that Lakanwal had driven across the country to launch an “ambush-style” attack with a revolver.

She said her heart went out to the family of Beckstrom, who volunteered to serve and “ended up being shot ambush-style on the cold streets of Washington DC by an individual who will now be charged with murder in the first degree”.

President Donald Trump called Beckstrom, part of the West Virginia guard, a “highly respected” and “magnificent person”.

More on Trump

Investigators are continuing to execute warrants in the state of Washington, where the suspect lived, and other parts of the country, Pirro said.

However, she declined to discuss the suspect’s motive, saying officials have been working around the clock on that question.

Officials said Lakanwal entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US’s chaotic withdrawal from the country.

People who knew him say he served in a CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before immigrating to the US.

Kristina Widman, who claims to be Lakanwal’s former landlord, said he had been living in Bellingham, close to Seattle, with his wife and five children.

The #AfghanEvac charity said Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was approved under the Trump administration.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Trump has called for every Afghan national who entered the US under Biden to be investigated following the shooting of two National Guard troops.

Read more:
Trump’s targeting of ‘third world’ immigrants after DC shooting spreads fear
US to review immigration from 19 countries after shooting

On Wednesday night, Trump called for the reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who had entered under the Biden administration.

The director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said in a statement that the agency would take additional steps to screen people from 19 “high-risk” countries “to the maximum degree possible”.

👉 Tap here to follow Trump100 wherever you get your podcasts👈

The President has since said he wants to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations and is promising to seek to expel millions of immigrants from the US by revoking their legal status.

Organisations that work with refugees are worried that those who fled dangerous situations to start again in America will face a backlash after the shooting.

Continue Reading

US

US to review immigration from 19 countries after Washington DC double shooting

Published

on

By

US to review immigration from 19 countries after Washington DC double shooting

The US will review green cards issued to the citizens of 19 countries after two members of the National Guard were shot by a suspected Afghan gunman in Washington DC.

Immigration from Afghanistan has also been suspended indefinitely, the White House said, following the double shooting on Wednesday.

Joseph Edlow, director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), revealed the order from President Trump.

He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”

Asked which countries would be affected, USCIS pointed to a presidential proclamation from June listing 19 countries.

The proclamation sought to “fully restrict” arrivals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

It also “partially” restricted arrivals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

More on Donald Trump

Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Pic: Reuters

Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has been named as the suspected gunman in this week’s shooting and has been detained.

He worked as part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan, and reportedly came to the States under a programme meant to help Afghans who’d risked their lives assisting US troops in Afghanistan.

He’s thought to have driven thousands of miles to the capital from his home in Washington state, where he lives with his wife and five children.

Attorney general Pam Bondi called him “a lone gunman” who “opened fire without provocation, ambush style”.

Gunfire in Washington DC sees two National Guard members shot
Image:
Gunfire in Washington DC sees two National Guard members shot

President Trump described him as a “savage monster”.

He was granted asylum in April this year, according to NBC News.

One of his victims, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, died of her wounds, while the other, Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in a critical condition.

The two National Guard members who were shot in Washington D.C. as 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Image:
The two National Guard members who were shot in Washington D.C. as 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters

Lakanwal reportedly came to the US under Operation Allies Welcome, a programme enacted by former President Joe Biden after he pulled American forces out of Afghanistan in 2021.

Edlow explictly targeted the previous president as he announced the new green card regime.

Read more:
Trump condemns ‘monstrous’ attack near White House
Election interference charges against Donald Trump dismissed

He wrote on X: “The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies.”

Speaking after the attack, President Trump was even more caustic.

He said: “The suspect in custody is a foreigner, who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on Earth.

“He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021 on those infamous flights that everybody was talking about.

“His status was extended under legislation signed by President Biden – a disastrous president, the worst in the history of our country.”

👉 Tap here to follow Trump100 wherever you get your podcasts👈

He continued: “This attack underscores the greatest national security threat facing our nation.

“The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world, from places that you don’t even want to know about.

“No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival.”

Continue Reading

Trending