Senior Writer
Willis Sparks
Senior Writer
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
Aug 10, 2023
On Thursday, Iran said it released five detained US-Iranian dual-nationals into house arrest, and the US has promised to release about $6 billion in Iranian assets currently frozen in South Korea. That money will reportedly be sent to Qatar, where Iran will be allowed to use it to import food, medicine, and other essentials. While the prisoners remain under house arrest, their departure for the US is expected in the coming weeks.
By itself, this deal is a significant breakthrough, given the US-Iranian frictions of recent years. But there’s a follow-up question: Is that it? Is this a one-off humanitarian gesture that gives each side something it wants? Or is this the first move in a warming of relations? Cash-strapped Iran wants access to all its frozen assets, and the Biden administration would love to improve relations with its main Middle East antagonist – and to give Iran a reason to cool its relations with Russia.
Could this deal even signal progress toward a return to the Iran nuclear deal? We may know the answer later this month when UN nuclear inspectors issue their latest report on Iran’s uranium enrichment progress.
