Iran also freed a fifth American, student Matthew Trevithick, who had been detained for 40 days while in Iran for an intensive language program to increase his fluency in Dari, a language closely related to Farsi. There were no additional details.
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Former U.S. Marine Hekmati had been serving 10 years after being found guilty of cooperating with hostile governments. “We can lead this world and make it safer and more secure”. This is a critical time for me and my family.
Post publisher Frederick J. Ryan Jr. said in a statement, “We are relieved that this 545-day nightmare for Jason and his family is finally over”.
The journalist’s brother, Ali Rezaian, said Jason Rezaian is a talented journalist and devoted family man “whose life was unfairly interrupted when he was arrested for crimes he did not commit”.
A plane carrying American prisoners released from Iranian detention as part of a prisoner swap deal between Tehran and Washington is “about to take off”, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN. None of them is in USA custody, and officials have determined that efforts to have them extradited will not succeed. Six of them have…
U.S. Republican presidential hopefuls approached the swap with both applause and scorn for President Barack Obama’s Iran policy.
The prisoner exchange likely would have been approved by Iran’s highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Once we receive more details and can confirm Jason has safely left Iran, we will have more to share”, he added.
Tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets will now be unfrozen and global companies that have been barred from doing business there will be able to exploit a market hungry for everything from automobiles to airplane parts.
“Based on an approval of the Supreme National Security Council [SNSC] and the overall interests of the Islamic Republic, four Iranian prisoners with dual-nationality were freed today within the framework of a prisoner swap deal”, Fars said.
The released was in exchange for clemency offered by the US for people from Iran that had been charged or had been imprisoned for violations of sanctions and the dismissal of charges against 14 other Iranians outside the U.S.
Two congressmen were headed to Germany to greet Rezaian and Hekmati. Rezaian’s Iranian wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who was arrested with Jason but later released, has now had her travel ban lifted and will be able to join her husband back in the U.S.
Kerry said the release of the prisoners followed months of meetings with Zarif and between other senior US officials and Iranian officials on the sidelines of nuclear talks, which began in earnest in 2013.
“And believe me, it’s hard when somebody says to you, ‘Hey, you give us this guy, we let them all out.’ And you have to say no. And you know you’re keeping people in a not very nice place for the next whatever number of months”, he said.
We’re going to turn back now to the big diplomatic news tonight.
Amir Hekmati, 32, was born in Arizona and is a former Marine.
Kerry said he would remain at work on other Americans still being held in Iran.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said that while he is happy for the freed Americans and their families, the US “shouldn’t be involved in swaps”.
Mr Kerry also linked the trust built between Iran and the United States over the past two years of talks to the release by Iran on Saturday of four Americans who also hold Iranian nationality.
United Nations experts said in a report in December that the missile test in October violated sanctions banning Iran from launches capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
The lawyer for Mekanik, 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.
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Four of the five detainees were still in the country because “logistical steps” were still ongoing, an official said.
