Iran said they were being swapped for Iranians held in the United States but there was no confirmation from Washington. “He has been allowed to leave Iran”.
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KENYON: It’s interesting. I can tell you frequently during the nuclear talks US diplomats would tell reporters they never failed to bring up these cases of Americans being detained. “He told me that judiciary officials had called for a meeting with him”.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the four were freed Saturday in exchange for the release of seven Iranians held in US prisons.
Iran released four Iranian-American prisoners on Saturday ahead of the expected release of a United Nations agency report on its compliance with the nuclear deal. The deal comes after more than a year of secret negotiations, the officials said.
The announcement of the exchange came shortly before Iran was certified as having met all commitments under the nuclear deal with six world powers. As a result, at least some global economic sanctions against Iran were lifted.
Iran’s semi-official FARS news agency reported that the longtime US foe freed four Iranian-American prisoners: Abedini, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmat and Nosratollah Khosrawi. He was arrested in Iran while visiting his grandmother and accused of spying, a charge USA officials have repeatedly denied.
Authorities were also working to obtain early release for Ali Saboonchi, convicted of export violations in 2014, according to people familiar with the matter.
Officials say a fifth American, a student identified as Matthew Trevithnick, was released in a move unrelated to the swap. He was the newspaper’s Tehran bureau chief.
“It has become very clear to me that those responsible view Iranian-Americans not as citizens or even human beings, but as bargaining chips and tools for propaganda”, he wrote in the letter sent to the State Department’s Iranian interest section in Washington. Supporters say he has been denied proper legal representation.
After months of complaining that the Obama administration had not done enough to gain the release of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian from Iran, news of his coming home has been greeted by conservatives with either silence, criticism or cynicism.
Rezaian had been detained since 2014 on charges of espionage. An Iranian court sentenced him to prison in November, but the length of the sentence was not specified.
During his imprisonment, he has suffered from health problems, including weight loss and breathing difficulties, according to his family.
Hekmati, a former US Marine, had been serving 10 years for cooperating with hostile governments and his family had long pled for his liberty.
“There are still many unknowns. We look forward to Saeed’s return and want to thank the millions of people who have stood with us in prayer during this most hard time“. Abednini, a Christian pastor, was jailed by the country in 2012 for attempting to start churches.
Iran and the U.S. have agreed to a prisoner swap. At time of arrest, was running an orphanage in Iran. He and at least three other Americans would be released in a prison exchange with Iran.
She says those measures also include cargo inspections and travel bans and asset freezes against Iranian individuals, companies and organizations.
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-Pastor Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho.
