The arch-foes and long-held antagonists, the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran finally reached a prisoners’ swap deal by releasing five detainees from each nation that also gave Tehran unrestricted access to its frozen oil funds of $6 billion. The historic deal had been possible through kinetic mediation and wholehearted facilitation of the Qatari government, which enjoys cordial relations with both contesting capitals located diagonally in the East and West with complete denial of each other existence throughout the past. After the conclusion of the deal, the US ally South Korea released the Iranian frozen fund by depositing 5.57 billion euros ($5.95 billion) in six Iranian accounts in Qatari Banks, which has erupted another controversy as Iranian authorities claimed damage compensation along with accusing South Korea for a deduction in the fund’s value that were originally costs of Iranian oil sale to Seoul.
The history of Western social and trade ethics, human rights and democratic cultures had been very strange and disheartening, as the Western nations often brought storms in a cup of tea and sabotaged other countries if there had been a suspicion of malpractice or violation of civic rights in opposing nations as the west did in South Sudan, East Taimur, Iraq, Syria and Libya. While it does not even move an inch over grave human rights violations, desecration of UNSC resolutions and serious warcrimes against humanity in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian-held Punjab, Palestine, the US Occupied Afghanistan and multiple other destinations around the globe. The same had been the case of frozen Iranian funds that were unjustifiably confiscated by the South Korean government to appease the US administration after former President Donald J. Trump unilaterally withdrew from the globally accepted Iran Nuclear deal and imposed sanctions against Tehran. The world witnessed the unprecedented reality that the Seoul regime refused to pay the price for oil it had purchased and already used from Iran. Interestingly, that had not happened only with Tehran but several other nations including Pakistan became victims of trade discrimination by the United States when Washington sabotaged the F-16 sale deal with Islamabad and bartered wheat and deducted parking fees for those aircraft that had never been handed over to Pakistan.
Currently, Competing regimes in Tehran and Washington champion this landmark prisoners swap deal as a great political and diplomatic achievement. Undoubtedly, the swap of prisoners and release of vital funds from foreign banks is a great victory of Tehran diplomacy that never displayed a weakness in the face of collective diplomatic coercion and sanctimonious policies of the Western bloc, not only at the nuclear front but also in trade, economy, and global diplomacy domains in the recent past. On the other hand, the Biden administration is likely to pay a huge political and diplomatic price for the release of its citizens, as the recent deal has seriously trashed the global image of the United States, which often threatens global peace and harasses other nations for its insignificant political or monterey interests. At the domestic level, Political rivals currently criticize the Biden administration for paying a ransom of $6 billion for the release of American citizens, which would surely be a potential political setback for Democrats in the forthcoming headcount scheduled to fall late next year.
Amid such a huge development and months-long negotiations between staunch rivals who blatantly ruined the peace of the world and sabotaged several nations including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya during their undeclared war over the past several years. What would be the true definition of their long-held antagonism and what would be the impact and reality of UN-led sanctions that were specifically imposed against Iran to rescue the strategic interests of a powerful nation? After all, the civilized world has coined fascinating words and impressive terminology to advocate its legacies and defame its adversaries, otherwise, the reality behind the bright faces is very hateful and drastic.
