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Israeli Military Chief Warns of New Plans to Strike Iran

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, center, reviews an honor guard in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP)
Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, center, reviews an honor guard in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP)
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Israeli Military Chief Warns of New Plans to Strike Iran

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, center, reviews an honor guard in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP)
Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, center, reviews an honor guard in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP)

Israel's military chief Tuesday warned the Biden administration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even if it toughens its terms, adding he's ordered his forces to step up preparations for possible offensive action against Iran during the coming year.

The comments by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi came as Israel and Iran both seek to put pressure on President Joe Biden ahead of his expected announcement on his approach for dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. In Iran, leaders said they would not wait indefinitely for Biden to act.

The 2015 deal put curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the easing of crippling economic sanctions. Israel strongly opposed the deal, saying it did not include sufficient safeguards to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. It welcomed the Trump administration's withdrawal from the agreement in 2018.

Biden has said he will seek to revive the deal, with some changes.

In his address, Kochavi said a return to the deal, even with some improvements, “is bad operationally and it is bad strategically.” He said allowing Iran to proceed with a nuclear program would be “an unacceptable threat and will lead to nuclear proliferation across the region.” Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Kochavi said that given the threat posed by Iran, Israel's military would be prepared to attack on its own if needed.

“I instructed the army to prepare a number of operational plans in addition to the existing ones,” he said. “We are taking care of these plans and will develop them during the coming year. Those who decide on carrying them out, of course, are the political leaders. But these plans have to be on the table.”

Just hours before Kochavi spoke against a deal, Iran prodded Biden to rejoin the atomic accord. “The window of opportunity will not be open for long,” said Iran’s Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei.

Israeli officials, including Kochavi, say that Iran is in a much weaker position than in 2015 after years of sanctions by the Trump administration. They say that any new deal should eliminate “sunset” provisions that phase out certain limits on Iran's nuclear activities, address Iran's long-range missile program and its military involvement and support for Israel's enemies across the region.

Tensions around Iran have steadily increased. During Trump’s final days as president, Tehran seized a South Korean oil tanker and begun enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels, while the US has sent B-52 bombers, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine into the region.

Iran has also increased its military drills, including firing cruise missiles as part of a naval drill in the Gulf of Oman this month.

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World

Greek State Workers Strike against Government Labor Law Plans

Protesters take part in a demonstration in front of the parliament building against the government's planned labor reforms, in Athens, Greece, September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Protesters take part in a demonstration in front of the parliament building against the government's planned labor reforms, in Athens, Greece, September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
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Greek State Workers Strike against Government Labor Law Plans

Protesters take part in a demonstration in front of the parliament building against the government's planned labor reforms, in Athens, Greece, September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Protesters take part in a demonstration in front of the parliament building against the government's planned labor reforms, in Athens, Greece, September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Greek public sector workers including teachers, doctors and transport staff walked off the job on Thursday to protest against labor law changes to the conservative government plans, months after it was re-elected.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' government says the overhaul would eliminate undeclared work and boost employment overall, but the opposition says it is an assault on workers' rights and would create "barbaric" conditions, Reuters said.
Trains and buses were operating on reduced hours during the one-day nationwide strike called by Greece's largest public sector union ADEDY. State hospitals operated on emergency staff and many schools closed.
Workers were expected to rally in central Athens and later march to parliament to coincide with a debate and vote.
"We demand the bill's withdrawal," said ADEDY, which represents about half a million workers.
The walkout is the first against Mitsotakis' government since he was re-elected in June.
The bill would allow full-time employees to get a part-time second job and work up to 13 hours a day unless certain terms apply such as conflict of interest. It also enables employers to implement a six-day working week if needed.
According to the bill, an employee can be fired within the first year of work without warning or remuneration, unless agreed otherwise.
It allows a probation period of up to six months, but also obliges employers to provide detailed terms of work.
Employers face a fine up to 10,500 euros ($11,175) if they fail to declare an employee's extension of working hours or change of shifts.
The bill introduces fines and a six-month jail term against those who obstruct employees from working during a strike.
Lawmakers with the main opposition, the Syriza leftist party which is expected to elect a new leader on Sunday, said earlier this week that the government was pushing "a secret agenda" against workers.
Greece's Communist Party KKE has called the bill "monstrous".

World

US Warns of Russian-Modified Drones Aiding Iran

Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of US Air Force Central, holds a press briefing at the US embassy in Abu Dhabi (AP)
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of US Air Force Central, holds a press briefing at the US embassy in Abu Dhabi (AP)
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US Warns of Russian-Modified Drones Aiding Iran

Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of US Air Force Central, holds a press briefing at the US embassy in Abu Dhabi (AP)
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of US Air Force Central, holds a press briefing at the US embassy in Abu Dhabi (AP)

A top Air Force commander in the Middle East has warned that Russia’s modification of Iranian drones could boost Tehran’s military capabilities and raise risks across the Middle East.

Washington accuses Tehran of supplying Moscow with drones, which have become a major feature of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and are in regular use in Syria. Iran denies sending drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.

“I think there's a risk that... as Russia accepts the drones from Iran, as it modifies those weapons, that some of that technology gets shared back with Iran (and) gives them additional capabilities,” Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of US Air Force Central, told a press briefing, according to AFP on Wednesday.

“I see the implications of that relationship playing out a little bit in Syria. Who would have ever thought that the Russian Federation would need to go to Iran for military capability? And yet we're there,” he added.

Drones have become a focal point of military strategy for both Russia and Iran, which are under heavy Western sanctions.

Tehran last month unveiled its “Mohajer-10” attack drone, and Russian President Vladimir Putin gave North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a gift of drones when he visited Moscow last week.

“I'm concerned about the level of collaboration that might happen between Russian forces and the amount of cooperation and collusion between Russia and Iran that's playing out in Syria,” Grynkewich told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

“That is something that we watch very closely,” he continued. “That burgeoning relationship is of a military concern to me.”

Tehran has been a primary supporter of Damascus. It has helped push groups loyal to it, most notably the Lebanese Hezbollah, to fight in Syria alongside government forces.

The conflict in Syria, which started 12 years ago, has killed at least half-a-million people, displaced millions more and destroyed the country’s infrastructure.

World

Russia Strikes Cities from East to West Ukraine, Starting Fires and Killing at Least Two

23 July 2023, Ukraine, Odesa: A general view of the destruction caused by Russian airstrikes. Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
23 July 2023, Ukraine, Odesa: A general view of the destruction caused by Russian airstrikes. Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
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Russia Strikes Cities from East to West Ukraine, Starting Fires and Killing at Least Two

23 July 2023, Ukraine, Odesa: A general view of the destruction caused by Russian airstrikes. Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
23 July 2023, Ukraine, Odesa: A general view of the destruction caused by Russian airstrikes. Photo: Ukrinform/dpa

Air alerts sounded again and again in Kyiv and residents headed to shelters early Thursday morning, as a massive Russian attack on at least six cities across Ukraine killed at least two people, started fires and wounded at least 21.
In the southern city of Kherson, near the front lines, two people were killed and at least five injured after a strike hit a residential building, said regional Governor Oleksand Prokudin.
Seven people were injured in Kyiv, including a 9-year-old girl, reported Mayor Vitalii Klitschko, and some residential and commercial buildings were damaged, The Associated Press said.
At least six strikes hit the Slobidskyi district of Kharkiv, damaging civilian infrastructure, said regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov. The city’s mayor added that two people had been sent to hospitals.
Seven were injured and at least one person was rescued from under rubble in Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, according to Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
An industrial zone was hit in western region of Lviv, damaging buildings and starting a fire, but no information on casualties was immediately available, Klymenko added.
Regional Governor Vitalii Koval reported strikes in the city of Rivne in the northwest region of the same name, without immediately providing details

World

Raisi Says Iran Has ‘No Problem’ with IAEA Inspections

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (AP)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (AP)
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Raisi Says Iran Has ‘No Problem’ with IAEA Inspections

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (AP)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (AP)

Iran has no issue with the UN nuclear watchdog's inspection of its nuclear sites, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Wednesday, days after Tehran barred multiple inspectors assigned to the country.

“We have no problem with the inspections but the problem is with some inspectors ... those inspectors that are trustworthy can continue their work in Iran,” Raisi told a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Iran's move was a response to a call led by the United States, Britain, France and Germany at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors earlier this month for Tehran to cooperate immediately with the agency on issues including explaining uranium traces found at undeclared sites.

“Tehran's decision was in reaction to some unfair statements by the Western members of the IAEA,” Raisi said.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has condemned Iran's “disproportionate and unprecedented” move.

Tehran's move, known as “e-designation” of inspectors, is allowed; member states can generally veto inspectors assigned to visit their nuclear facilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and each country's safeguards agreement with the agency governing inspections.

World

Russia’s War in Ukraine ‘Aggravating Geopolitical Tensions,’ UN Chief Says

Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia speaks as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and United Nations Security Council members listen during a ministerial level meeting of the Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)
Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia speaks as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and United Nations Security Council members listen during a ministerial level meeting of the Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)
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Russia’s War in Ukraine ‘Aggravating Geopolitical Tensions,’ UN Chief Says

Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia speaks as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and United Nations Security Council members listen during a ministerial level meeting of the Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)
Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia speaks as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and United Nations Security Council members listen during a ministerial level meeting of the Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. (Reuters)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Wednesday that Russia's war in Ukraine "is aggravating geopolitical tensions and divisions, threatening regional stability, increasing the nuclear threat, and creating deep fissures in our increasingly multipolar world."

Guterres was first to address the Security Council meeting on Ukraine taking place during the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended in person for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Before the meeting started, Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia argued against Zelenskiy addressing the council, which is chaired by Albania for September, before the 15 members.

"I want to assure our Russian colleagues and everyone here that this is not a special operation by the Albanian presidency," Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama told Nebenzia. "There is a solution for this. If you agree, you stop the war and President Zelenskiy will not take the floor."

The Security Council has met dozens of times on Ukraine over the past 19 months but is unable to take any action as Russia is a veto power.

World

Iran’s Parliament Passes a Stricter Headscarf Law Days after Protest Anniversary

Iranian women, some without the mandatory headscarf, walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 13 September 2023. (EPA)
Iranian women, some without the mandatory headscarf, walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 13 September 2023. (EPA)
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Iran’s Parliament Passes a Stricter Headscarf Law Days after Protest Anniversary

Iranian women, some without the mandatory headscarf, walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 13 September 2023. (EPA)
Iranian women, some without the mandatory headscarf, walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 13 September 2023. (EPA)

Iran's parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to impose heavier penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory headscarf in public and those who support them.

The move came just days after the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by the morality police for violating the country's dress code. Her death in custody ignited months of protests in which many called for the overthrow of Iran's theocracy.

The 70-item bill extends punishments to business owners who serve women not wearing the mandatory headscarf, known as hijab, and activists who organize against it. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison if the offense occurs in an organized way.

The bill, which was approved by 152 lawmakers in Iran's 290-seat parliament, requires ratification by the Guardian Council, a clerical body that serves as constitutional watchdog. It would take effect for a preliminary period of three years.

The demonstrations sparked by Amini's death on Sept. 16, 2022, died down early this year following a heavy crackdown on dissent in which more than 500 protesters were killed and over 22,000 detained.

But many women continued to flaunt the rules on wearing hijab, prompting a new campaign to enforce them over the summer. Iran's clerical rulers view the hijab law as a key pillar of the country and blamed the protests on Western nations, without providing evidence.

The protesters said they were motivated by anger over the dress code as well as what they see as the corruption and poor governance of the country's

World

Azerbaijan and Armenian Forces Reach Ceasefire Deal for Nagorno-Karabakh

A view shows civilians during an evacuation performed by Russian peacekeepers at an unknown location following the launch of a military operation by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, in this still image from video published September 20, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
A view shows civilians during an evacuation performed by Russian peacekeepers at an unknown location following the launch of a military operation by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, in this still image from video published September 20, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
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Azerbaijan and Armenian Forces Reach Ceasefire Deal for Nagorno-Karabakh

A view shows civilians during an evacuation performed by Russian peacekeepers at an unknown location following the launch of a military operation by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, in this still image from video published September 20, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
A view shows civilians during an evacuation performed by Russian peacekeepers at an unknown location following the launch of a military operation by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, in this still image from video published September 20, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

A ceasefire agreement with Azerbaijan was reached on Wednesday to end two days of fighting in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, local authorities and Azerbaijani officials said.

The agreement was to go into effect at 1 p.m. local time (0900 GMT), and talks between Azerbaijani officials and the breakaway region's ethnic Armenian authorities on its “re-integration” into Azerbaijan were scheduled to take place on Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh.

The deal was reached through negotiations with the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the region, local officials said. It envisions the withdrawal of Armenian military units and equipment from Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as disarming the local defense forces, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry confirmed.

It comes a day after Azerbaijan launched military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh and used heavy artillery fire on Armenian positions there, an attack that local officials said killed or wounded scores of people, The Associated Press reported.

Azerbaijan has called the artillery fire an “anti-terrorist operation” and said it will continue until the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh dismantles itself and “illegal Armenian military formations” surrender.

It claimed to be only targeting military sites but significant damage is visible on the streets of the regional capital, Stepanakert, with shop windows blown out and vehicles punctured, apparently by shrapnel.

The blasts reverberated around Stepanakert every few minutes on Wednesday morning, with some explosions in the distance and others closer to the city.

The escalation has raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which for more than three decades have been locked in a struggle over the mountainous territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The most recent heavy fighting there occurred over six weeks in 2020.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry announced the start of the military operation hours after it reported that four soldiers and two civilians died in land mine explosions in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The ministry did not immediately give details but said that front-line positions and the military assets of Armenia’s armed forces were being “incapacitated using high-precision weapons,” and that only legitimate military targets were being attacked.

Russia's defense ministry said Wednesday that its peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh had evacuated more than 2,000 civilians, but did not give details on where they were taken.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, however, denied that its weapons or troops were in Nagorno-Karabakh and called reported sabotage and land mines in the region “a lie.” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashiyan alleged that Azerbaijan’s main goal is to draw Armenia into hostilities.

Ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement that Stepanakert and villages in the region were “under intense shelling.” The region’s military said Azerbaijan was using aircraft, artillery and missile systems, as well as drones in the fighting.

Residents of Stepanakert moved to basements and bomb shelters, and the fighting cut off electricity. Food shortages persisted in the area, with limited humanitarian aid delivered Monday not distributed due to the shelling, which resumed in the evening after halting briefly in the afternoon.

Nagorno-Karabakh human rights ombudsman Geghan Stepanyan said Wednesday that 32 people, including seven civilians, were killed and more than 200 others were wounded. Stepanyan earlier said one child was among those killed, and 11 children were among the wounded.

The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office said Armenian forces fired at Shusha, a city in Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijan’s control, from large-caliber weapons, killing one civilian.

Neither claim could be independently verified.

World

Tornadoes Kill 10 People in Eastern China

This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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Tornadoes Kill 10 People in Eastern China

This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Two tornadoes within hours killed 10 people and seriously injured four others in eastern China, state media said Wednesday.
The first tornado hit parts of Suqian city in Jiangsu province on Tuesday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said. It destroyed 137 homes and damaged crop land and pig farms. Five people died and four were injured.
A second tornado in the evening killed five people in Yancheng city, which is in the same province about 190 kilometers southeast of Suqian, The Associated Press reported.
Videos posted online of the first tornado showed cars that had been tossed about, including at least one flipped onto its side, and debris swirling in the air above a several story-high building.
CCTV said that power and road service had been restored in the Suqian area.
Tornadoes are rare in China but have caused deaths in Jiangsu in recent years. One person in the province was killed in a tornado last year and four died in 2021. Another tornado killed eight people in the city of Wuhan the same day.

World

Moscow-Tehran Ties Have Reached New Level, Says Russian Defense Minister

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)
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Moscow-Tehran Ties Have Reached New Level, Says Russian Defense Minister

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)

Relations between Russia and Iran have reached a new level despite opposition from much of the Western world, Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during his visit to Teheran on Wednesday.

"We are aiming at an entire range of planned activities, despite opposition from the United States and its Western allies," the Interfax news agency cited Shoigu as saying.

Shoigu, who arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, was invited to Iran by Major General Mohammad Bagheri, who serves as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Iran's state news agency, IRNA, reported.

“Relations between Russia and Iran are developing dynamically in the field of defense,” Shoigu said during his meeting with Bagheri.

“Today, we have an opportunity to discuss in detail topical issues of bilateral military cooperation,” the Russian minister said.

“Iran is Russia’s strategic partner in the Middle East,” he stressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World

Americans Released by Iran Arrive Home

Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between US and Iran, as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between US and Iran, as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
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Americans Released by Iran Arrive Home

Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between US and Iran, as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between US and Iran, as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)

A plane carrying five Americans freed by Iran landed in the United States on Tuesday, a day after they were swapped for the release of five Iranians held in the US and the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan published on X a picture of the released Americans alongside diplomats in the airplane, saying “Welcome home.”

Following partially Qatari-led talks, the two countries carried out the prisoner swap upon the release of $6 billion frozen by South Korea as per the sanctions imposed on Iran.

The White House denied that the unfreezing of $6 billion of Iranian funds to help secure the release of five US citizens was effectively a ransom payment.

The welcome ceremony followed an exchange that was triggered on Monday when the funds that had been blocked in South Korea were wired, via Switzerland, to banks in Doha.

After the transfer was confirmed, the five US prisoners plus two relatives took off on a Qatari plane from Tehran, at the same time as two of the five Iranian detainees landed in Doha on their way home. Three Iranians chose not to go to Iran.

The deal removes a point of friction between the United States, which brands Tehran a sponsor of terrorism, and Iran, which calls Washington the "Great Satan".

But it is unclear whether it will bring the two adversaries, which have been at odds for 40 years, closer on any other issues, such as Iran's nuclear program and its backing for regional militias.

The freed Americans include US-Iranian dual citizens Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality. Two of them have not been publicly identified.

US President Joe Biden welcomed the return of the prisoners home in a statement on Monday but his administration also announced fresh US sanctions.

"We will continue to impose costs on Iran for their provocative actions in the region," he said.

"This was purely a humanitarian action ... And it can certainly be a step based upon which in the future other humanitarian actions can be taken," Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told a group of journalists after his arrival in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the door open to nuclear diplomacy but suggested nothing was imminent.

US analysts were skeptical about prospects for progress.

"The prisoner swap does likely pave the way for additional diplomacy around the nuclear program this fall, although the prospect for actually reaching a deal is very remote," said Henry Rome of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.