The group will board another plane headed to a US base in Germany.
Advertisement
Earlier on Saturday, Iran and the United States eased decades of tension with the announcement of a prisoner swap. There were no additional details.
“We couldn’t be happier to hear the news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison”, Frederick Ryan said. “We don’t make that judgment”.
The biggest obstacle was whittling down the Iranians’ list of requests to something that was within “our principles and our standards”, Kerry said.
According to Reuters, which quoted Iranian state media, the other three Iranian-Americans are: Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati and Nosratollah Khosravi.
“When he gets home, we can address the serious issues that have happened and continued”, she told the Post. Rezaian was the Post’s Tehran correspondent and was accredited to work in the country by the Iranian government.
“The tried to kill us”, Cruz said Sunday.
“We are relieved that this 545-day nightmare for Jason and his family is finally over”.
Three Americans freed from Iran, including a Washington Post reporter held for almost 18 months, arrived Sunday in Germany on their journey back to the United States and awaiting families and friends. USA student Matthew Trevithick was released independently of the exchange on Saturday and already was on his way home.
Mechanic was one of seven men released as part of the pardons by President Obama in exchange for four Americans.
Six of the seven are dual citizens.
In praising the “tireless” effort that went into the prisoner exchange, U.S. President Barack Obama said that the clemency granted to the Iranian prisoners was a “one-time gesture”.
“Most of the discussions of the past day have been about the work and reporting”, they said.
The news emerged as a landmark deal took effect Saturday relieving sanctions on Iran in return for its progress in pulling back its nuclear program. White House officials said negotiations took place over a 14-month period, majority held in Switzerland, and they were driven by concerns that the Americans potentially faced many years in prison.
Kerry conveyed that message to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on December 29 and the sanctions have been delayed until after the swap, the officials said. Others said he was on a business trip. “I’ve seen their anguish – how they ached for their husbands and sons”, Obama said.
Get the WFMY News 2 App and the WFMY News 2 Weather App free in the Apple store. “Because it all became real”, the congressman told CNN.
Amir Hekmati, 32, was born in Arizona and is a former Marine. The US will also drop Interpol “red notices” – essentially arrest warrants – on a handful of Iranian fugitives.
Levinson, 67, went missing from Iran’s Kish Island in March 2007. “We have no further information to share at this time and would ask that everyone respect the privacy of these individuals and their families”.
American prisoners have been released from Iranian detention under a prisoner swap agreement between Tehran and Washington. The agreement puts Iran’s various nuclear activities under IAEA watch for up to 15 years, with an option to re-impose sanctions should Tehran break its commitments.
Dareini reported from Tehran, Iran; Lee reported from Washington.
Advertisement
“Kuwait and Sudan have broken off relations with Iran and we should form a strategic alliance with them instead of dealing with the [Iranian] regime”, he told us, “Right now, the way we’re dealing with them, we’re going down the same road we did with North Korea-trusting them to honor their promise not to develop a nuclear bomb”.
