4 dual-national prisoners released

Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks during a town hall-style campaign stop at the Alpine Club, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Manchester, N.H.

Republicans responded to the prisoner release with a mixture of caution and criticism.

If the International Atomic Energy Agency certifies that Iran is in compliance, some international economic sanctions against Iran are expected to be lifted.

Trevithick had traveled to Iran in September for a four-month, intensive language program at the Dehkhoda Institute, a language center affiliated with Tehran University.

There were exceptions, with Kentucky Sen.

Saeed Abedini, 35, an Iranian-American pastor from Idaho, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2013 after being accused of harming Iran’s national security by setting up home-based churches in his native country.

In return, the U.S. will pardon or drop charges against seven Iranians – six of whom are dual U.S.-Iranian citizens – accused or convicted of violating U.S. sanctions.

“We couldn’t be happier to hear the news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison”, Washington Post publisher Frederick Ryan said in a statement.

A fifth detained American, student Matthew Trevithick, will also be released, but USA officials says it’s unrelated to the prisoner swap.

The U.S. would not immediately confirm the Iranian report. “It may well be that there are some very problematic aspects to this deal”, said Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Iranian state television announced Saturday that the government had freed four dual-nationality prisoners, and a person close to Iran’s judiciary confirmed to The Associated Press that Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was one of them. “It’s created an incentive for more people to do this in the future”. The agreement puts Iran’s various nuclear activities under IAEA watch for up to 15 years, with an option to re-impose sanctions should Tehran break its commitments. The agreement was reached between Iran and the West in July.

“Considering how little value the Ministry of Intelligence places on my Iranian citizenship and passport, I, too, place little value on them and inform you, effectively that I formally renounce my Iranian citizenship and passport”. The list the Iranians submitted to USA authorities was “whittled down” to exclude any crimes related to violence or terrorism, said the official, one of several who spoke on condition of anonymity under administration ground rules.

“Let’s take a step back here”. At time of arrest, was running an orphanage in Iran. It opened the Obama administration to immediate criticism that it had negotiated a bad deal that would set a risky precedent.

“So I’ve been hitting them hard, and I think I might have had something to do with it”, Trump said at the South Carolina Tea Party Convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C. “While we don’t know the details of the negotiations here, I want to stress that journalists should never be pawns in a political game”.

Iran announced on Saturday that it was releasing US evangelical pastor Saeed Abedini and four other American detainees, a major development and a cause for celebration among the millions of Christians worldwide who had always been praying for his release.