Not recognizing Rezaian’s dual citizenship, Iranian officials said after his arrest the country did not have to explain to the United States why he had been detained.
Advertisement
Marine veteran Amir Hekmati, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, who has been described as a “businessman”, were also released. The hospital is near the US military’s Ramstein Air Base.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry says a Swiss plane with a ministry representative and doctors on board is expected to land in Switzerland late Sunday afternoon.
Apart from the prisoner exchange, Iran is also releasing a fifth imprisoned American, Matthew Trevithick. There were no additional details. The Iranians originally sought 19 people as part of the exchange; US officials whittled down the number to seven. “We don’t make that judgment”.
“Becca and I are grateful that Pastor Saeed Abedini and four other Americans have finally been freed by their captors”.
A statement from a senior administration official did not name specific prisoners and provided only sparse details. Washington Post journalist, Jason Rezaian – he spent 544 days in prison.
Mr Rezaian’s sister-in-law Naomi said last night: ‘The family are overwhelmed.
He added, “After almost a year and a half of arbitrary delays, and an unfair, opaque judicial process, Jason’s release has brought indescribable relief and joy to our family – this nightmare is approaching an end”. “He served the time in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, known as one of the most brutal”.
Huffman said that Ali Rezaian of Mill Valley, Jason’s 45-year-old brother, was on his way to Europe, where he hopes to reunite with his brother later today. Ted Cruz called the prisoner swap another sign of Obama’s weakness on the world stage. US President Barack Obama met his wife and children in 2015. This prisoner exchange was apparently related to the recent nuclear deal with Iran, “but only loosely”. Together, the lifting of sanctions and the prisoner deal considerably reduce the hostility between Tehran and Washington that has shaped the Middle East since Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The deal came after more than a year of secret negotiations, the officials said.
That’s not the message Rubio was sending earlier this year, after the nuclear deal with Iran was announced. At least six Iranian-Americans held by the United States were swapped in exchange for the four held by Iran, the Washington Post reported, but it was not immediately clear who they were. “And the fact that they can get away with it in this administration is one of the reasons – has created an incentive for more governments to do this around the world”.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Michigan, said Hekmati’s father had fallen ill in the more than four years that his son has been detained. “I’m sure there are people who have never met Saeed, but we talk about him a lot and pray a lot for him”.
The Post released a statement Saturday saying that, “While we are hopeful, we have not received any official word of Jason’s release”. And then is when I will get a phone call, so it could be much later tonight when I first get to talk to him. The family’s lawyer told CNN the agency paid $2.5 million to avoid a lawsuit.
Amir Hekmati. Image Credit: Reuters.
“Iran has also committed to continue co-operating with the United States to determine the whereabouts of Robert Levinson”, the official said.
“We are happy for the other families”, Levinson’s family said in a statement.
“The truth is we are both human, and there is very dark moments and issues in our marriage and our family that came to light at a very breaking point where I was under a lot of stress and I shared with friends and it came out on media”, Naghmeh said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking before the prisoner releases were announced, said: “Today is a day when we prove to the world that threats, sanctions, intimidation, pressure don’t work”.
Six of the seven are dual citizens. Iran will also see huge benefits from new oil, trade and financial opportunities. “One of them was a reporter”. His relationships were exclusively about journalism, but they were viewed with suspicion by hardliners in the Iranian regime, particularly the Revolutionary Guards.
Advertisement
A source familiar with the case of a fourth man identified him as Ali Saboonchi.
