The Associated Press has confirmed that three of them were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati and pastor Saeed Abedini. There are very limited options for USA businesses.
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Rezaian’s wife and mother were expected to be on the plane.
A fifth American, identified as language student Matt Trevithick, had already left the country as part of a separate release, a U.S. official said. There were no additional details.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Right. So, this – there were two tracks, as Secretary Kerry mentioned, one the prison swap or humanitarian gesture, whatever you want to call it and then the Iranian deal itself.
“Those who wished to depart Iran have left”, according to a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter and privacy concerns for the families. “We don’t make that judgment”.
Iran released five Americans in exchange for seven Iranians. A statement from a senior White House official did not name specific prisoners and provided only sparse details. The U.S. released the seven Iranian men early Sunday.
Rezaian’s brother Ali said he had no immediate confirmation of the news.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman said Saturday it would be “a great diplomatic achievement for the United States” after hearing that former Marin resident Jason Rezaian was to be released after being detained in Iran for the past 18 months. And is this considered a major turn in the U.S.-Iranian relationship?
Levinson’s case was aggressively pursued, officials said, adding that Iran has committed to continue cooperating in trying to determine Levinson’s whereabouts. Six of them hold dual Iranian and American citizenship, and the seventh is an Iranian. During Pope Francis’s address to a joint session of Congress a year ago, the Tarheel State lawmaker arranged for her to sit in the gallery and attempted to secure a meeting with the Holy Father and Mrs. Abedini.
Kerry made the announcement of the prisoner releases official only moments after a United Nations watchdog group certified Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal.
News of the exchange came as world leaders converged here Saturday in anticipation of the end of worldwide sanctions against Iran in exchange for significantly curtailing its nuclear program.
The lawyer for Mechanic, who has been jailed since his indictment last April on charges of illegally exporting microelectronics technology to Iran, said his client was “elated” to be pardoned. A year of secret negotiations led to Saturday’s deal. Doug Jehl, the Post’s foreign editor, said last fall that it seemed like “Jason is not really a prisoner, he’s a bargaining chip being used by the Iranian government to extract some concessions from the U.S”.
Two congressmen are headed to Germany on Sunday to greet Rezaian and Hekmati.
“I am thrilled and relieved that Jason and these other Americans are no longer in prison”, said Jared Huffman, who represents Rezaian and has been involved in his case.
“I am overcome with emotion that after four and a half years, this awful ordeal is ending and the Hekmati family will soon be reunited with Amir”, Kildee said.
After nearly constant conversation over the last few days, they finally did settle it. Today is an incredible day for all of us. “We have no further information to share at this time and would ask everyone respect the privacy of these individuals and their families”, the official told CNN. The U.S. also says that it has removed Interpol red notices and dismissed the charges against 14 other Iranians officials. Iran accused him of working for the Central Intelligence Agency. The Post, US officials and Rezaian’s family have all called for his release. “But once again, Bob Levinson has been left behind”, the Levinson family said in a statement.
The four prisoners were released as part of an exchange which included the release of seven Iranians and Iranian-Americans in US custody.
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In return, the U.S.is pardoning or commuting the sentence of an Iranian and six dual citizens.
