One hearing was held the day before the completion of the final pact on July 14.
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“We are relieved that this 545-day nightmare for Jason and his family is finally over”. “While we celebrate their return, this deal serves as piece of propaganda for both Iran and the Obama administration”. Once the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies that Iran has met the terms, billions of dollars of Iranian assets will be unfrozen and some limits on trade and banking with Iran will be lifted.
Earlier Sunday, seven Iranian men walked free from detention in the United States after being pardoned and released, a lawyer for one of the men said. Among those on board was The Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent Jason Rezaian, who had been detained in Iran for almost 18 months.
Kris Coratti, vice president of communications and spokeswoman for The Post, said that “while we are hopeful, we have not received any official word of Jason’s release”.
Hekmati, of Flint, Michigan, was detained in August 2011 on espionage charges.
While Rezaian has been freed, the Committee to Protect Journalists noted Iran’s disturbing treatment of other journalists.
US officials haven’t said anything about that case other than that he was jailed within the past year.
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo released a statement today regarding Saeed’s release saying, “Iran’s holding of Pastor Abedini was outrageous and it was far past time for him to be released”.
But Israel warned in a statement put out by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office that Iran has not given up its nuclear ambitions.
None have been charged or convicted of any terrorism-related or violent crimes, the official said, but were instead charged or convicted of crimes related to the evasion of Iranian sanctions. Abedini, Hekmati and Rezaian were freed this weekend as part of a prisoner swap; Levinson’s location remains unknown.
The three were scheduled to be transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a US military hospital, after arriving in Germany.
Kerry said the release of the prisoners followed months of meetings with Zarif and between other senior USA officials and Iranian officials on the sidelines of nuclear talks, which began in earnest in 2013. “Our enemies now know that if you can capture an American, you can get something meaningful in exchange for it”. Secretary Kerry said these were always separate tracks, but they did culminate right now.
Kerry hailed the accomplishments of the nuclear talks, saying that as a result “the United States, our friends and allies in the Middle East and the entire world are safer because the threat of a nuclear weapon has been reduced”.
Director General Yukiya Amano and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini (front L-R) arrive at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria, Jan. 16, 2016 to announce the end of western sanctions against Iran. And with that report, all the sanctions relief goes into effect nearly immediately.
USA officials stressed that the Americans were a priority. So what does Iran get out of this?
Rezaian was arrested by Iranian authorities in the summer of 2014 and later sentenced after a secret trial on spying accusations derided as bogus by The Washington Post and other media observers.
KELEMEN: Well, it certainly shows that these back channels work and diplomacies work.
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The UN nuclear watchdog announced late Saturday that Iran had complied with its side of the July 2015 accord, allowing the lifting of sanctions.
