Work proceeds to get freed Americans out of Iran

According to reports, Amir Mirzaee Hekmati, Jason Rezaian, Saeed Abedini, and Nosratollah Khosravi were among the released prisoners.

Speaking in Vienna on Saturday, where he was to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and top European Union diplomat Federica Mogherini, Zarif called for greater cooperation to fight the “terrorism and extremism” that has engulfed the Middle East. His comments were broadcast on state TV.

“Overwhelmed to greet Jason #Rezaian, his wife, Yegi, mother, Mary + Saeed #Abedini + Amir #Hekmati to #Geneva after safely departing #Iran”, the State Department’s Brett McGurk said on Twitter.

A fifth man – described as a recently detained student named Matthew Trevithick – was separately released, US officials said. There were no additional details.

Levinson’s case was aggressively pursued, officials said, adding that Iran has committed to continue cooperating in trying to determine Levinson’s whereabouts. “We don’t make that judgment”. American officials didn’t want the citizens used as leverage in the nuclear talks and didn’t want to lose their possible release if the talks failed to produce an agreement.

Iranian-American Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian.

“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”, his brother, Ali Rezaian, said in a statement released by his family. Paul also called Iran’s decision to release the prisoners “a sign of hope”. The US agreed to free six Iranians being held on charges related to breaking the sanctions.

Iran state television has reported that the government has released several dual-national prisoners.

“We’re all very excited that hopefully within a matter of days we’ll be able to welcome them back to the United States”, Huffman said.

The negotiations over the American detainees grew out of the Iran nuclear talks.

The prisoner swap was announced hours before the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog certified that Iran has met commitments that are part of the nuclear deal with six world powers.

“Yes, the plane has left”, A USA official told Reuters. The most honest explanation of his imprisonment came in media accounts that accused him of conspiring to improve relations between the United States and Iran, something that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has sworn to prevent.

“He is specifically mentioned by name in the agreement and there is an agreement to specifically cooperate to find him”, said Kerry.

In addition, the US will drop Interpol “red notices” – essentially arrest warrants – on 14 Iranian fugitives it has sought, officials said.

“I am incredibly relieved that Jason is on his way home”.

Rezaian and the other former prisoners are expected to travel to Switzerland, and then to a USA military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

“They were jumping, dancing”, she said. Abedini was previously arrested in 2009 and released after promising to stop organizing churches in homes. “Because it all became real”, the congressman told CNN.

“I am overcome with emotion that after four and a half years, this awful ordeal is ending and the Hekmati family will soon be reunited with Amir”, Kildee said. But the fates of three other Americans, including former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Robert Levinson, were unknown. Iranian state television identified him as a businessman.

“When Americans are freed, that’s something we can all celebrate”, he said in a televised statement from the White House. “But once again, Bob Levinson has been left behind”, the Levinson family said in a statement.

The four Americans released in Iran under a negotiated prisoner exchange are still in that country as arrangements progress to get them out. The IAEA is also charged with monitoring the country’s program for years to come to ensure that Iran is not moving toward nuclear weapons production.

His supporters accused the Iranian authorities of fabricating the charges. The official says work is proceeding on getting the four Americans together and putting them on a plane out of Tehran.