An earlier State Department statement said “those who wished to depart Iran have left”.
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“We look forward to the joyous occasion of welcoming him back to the Washington Post newsroom”, publisher Frederick J. Ryan Jr. said in a statement, according to CNN.
The release of the prisoners and the nuclear deal developments capped weeks of intense U.S.-Iran diplomacy that took several unexpected turns after an Iranian ballistic missile test in October and then the detention on January 12 by Iran of 10 U.S. Navy sailors and their two boats in the Persian Gulf. The exchange was occurring just as the diplomats anticipated the end of global sanctions against Iran, based on the expectation that the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency would announce in Vienna that Tehran has held up its end of a nuclear deal.
The US prisoners have arrived in Geneva a day after being released from prison in Iran. “And the fact that they can get away with it with this administration I think has created an incentive for more governments to do this around the world”.
Kerry said the Americans had been released from Iranian custody.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has heralded the fulfillment of the deal as a “new chapter” for Iran.
A lawyer for Ali Saboonchi, convicted in 2014 for export violations, said his client had also been released as of Sunday. “I thought it was done”. “We are going to remain vigilant about it”. That they take people hostage in order to gain concessions. “We said, ‘No, and no, and no'”. I am incredibly grateful to everyone, including my staff, who worked tirelessly to secure Amir’s release.
“But there have to be an enforcement of our principles and our standards here”. “When Americans are freed and returned to their families, that’s something we can all celebrate”. Washington has also dropped Interpol “red notices” – worldwide arrest warrants – against 14 other Iranians. By Saturday night, those penalties were no longer in effect.
“Most of the discussions of the past day have been about the work and reporting”, they said.
“Saeed made it out of Iranian soil and is heading to a safe country”, Abedini’s wife Naghmeh posted to Facebook.
But the various administrative holdups meant that the Swiss crew set to fly the plane ran into a mandatory crew rest.
USA and Iranian officials are calling this a major diplomatic breakthrough, and say a landmark nuclear deal appears imminent.
He had been hoping to meet an informant during his trip who could provide information about Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, they said. “He specifically said Syria and Yemen”. “I felt very betrayed and devastated that I hadn’t even received a phone call to let me know this was happening”, said Christine. Iranian officials had repeatedly denied any knowledge of his disappearance or whereabouts. The former Iranian prisoners included former U.S. Marine and Flint-native, Amir Hekmati.
American student Matt Trevithick was also released as part of a separate agreement.
Four Iranian-American citizens freed by Iran in a prisoner swap with the United States had left Teheran and were flying to Bern in Switzerland, Iranian state television reported.
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As well as California-born Rezaian, sentenced to unspecified jail time past year having been tried for espionage, Iran has been holding three other Iranian-American citizens.
