The Washington Post said early Sunday that Rezaian was with his wife.
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“Zarif had no question about it”, Kerry was quoted as saying. “And certainly in the time since we reached an agreement last July, there was significant pickup in that dialogue”. Trevithick, who is from Hingham, Massachusetts, co-founded a research center based in Turkey that assesses the humanitarian crisis in the area and traveled to Iran in September for a four-month language program.
The Republican front-runner said while he’s happy the prisoners are coming back, “it’s a disgrace they’ve been there for so long”.
After Iran’s announcement, the US also confirmed that the release of the American prisoners was achieved “through a diplomatic channel”.
An earlier State Department statement said “those who wished to depart Iran have left”.
The administration has not identified the Iranians who will be granted clemency under the president’s constitutional pardon power.
“When Americans are freed, that’s something we can all celebrate”, US President Barak Obama said in a televised statement from the White House. But the cases of these seven men, six of whom also are USA citizens, haven’t gotten as much attention.
State television said the seven Iranians Nader Modanlou, Baharam Mechanic, Khosrow Afghahi, Arash Ghahreman, Tooraj Faridi, Nima Golestaneh, and Ali Saboonchi were also being released.
Host Chris Wallace pressed Cruz on his bombastic military rhetoric, pointing out his comment during Thursday night’s sixth GOP presidential debate that “any country that makes USA service members get on their knees…will feel the full force and fury of the United States”.
An 11th-hour disagreement over whether Jason Rezaian’s mother was on board the flight delayed the plane’s departure, a USA official said, but Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with The Washington Post that Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif assigned four people to help resolve the dispute. American officials are unsure if the former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent is even still alive.
Iran has denied holding him.
Fred Ryan, the publisher of The Washington Post, issued a statement hailing the end of Rezaian’s prolonged imprisonment, calling it a “545-day nightmare” for the correspondent and his family.
In exchange, the United States released seven Iranians convicted of sanctions busting and removed a further 14 from global wanted lists.
The three were scheduled to be transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a USA military hospital, after arriving in Germany. The former Marine infantryman and Arabic and Persian linguist was accused of espionage and other charges in 2012.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2013. Abedini was previously arrested in 2009 and released after promising to stop organizing churches in homes.
“It’s going to be different this time where he is not in Iran”.
“This has been an answer to prayer”.
“I want to start by giving thanks… but at the same time we’ve got to shake our heads at how it happened”, Cruz said. There are still many unknowns.
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“The United States stands as a beacon of freedom and hope for those across the globe, and as such, we must continue to fight for the safe return of those wrongfully imprisoned overseas based on their religious beliefs”.
