A Victory for Diplomacy
Note from the Editor, by Paul Barker
Good news can happen. Last week five Iranian-Americans, who had been held in prison in Iran for up to eight years, were released and transferred to a hotel where they will live until they are eventually, hopefully, flown to Qatar and then the US. Other apparent aspects of the arrangement that led to their release include the freedom of five Iranians held in American prisons and the conditional release of $6 billion in Iranian assets long held in South Korea to a bank in Qatar where the Qataris will manage its expenditure to cover the purchase of food and medical supplies for Iran. It remains to be seen whether this is or could be part of a larger understanding which would defuse other aspects of tensions between Iran and the US.