Three US prisoners freed by Iran due in Switzerland

“We are grateful that Pastor Abedini, Mr. Rezaian, and Mr. Hekmati are free, and I am honored to participate in this joyous delegation”.

The Post reported that the flight out of Iran was delayed because Rezaian’s mother Mary and wife Yeganeh, who also were on the plane, initially did not appear on the flight manifest.

“We look forward to the joyous occasion of welcoming him back to the Washington Post newsroom”, publisher Frederick Ryan Jr. said in a statement. The other two are Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor imprisoned since 2012, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, whose name had not been made public until Saturday.

Obama and other senior US officials have said they repeatedly demanded the release of Iran’s American prisoners, but there has been, nevertheless, widespread criticism of the administration for failing to secure a firm agreement on the prisoners’ release.

Nima Golestaneh, an Iranian, who pleaded guilty to allegations that he helped in cyber attacks against a Vermont-based defence contractor, was also freed, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry that helped broker the deal.

The four prisoners were released as part of an exchange which included the release of seven Iranians and Iranian-Americans in US custody. A senior US official said Trevithick, 30, has already left Iran. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, the official said efforts were underway to get the four together and on a plane out of Tehran. Most of those held by the United States, The Wall Street Journal noted, “were tied to violations of USA export laws and the sales of dual-use equipment that could be used in Iran’s military or nuclear program”. The Obama administration says the Americans come up in every conversation with the Iranians.

A Swiss air force plane carrying three Americans released by Iran landed in Geneva, and they were expected to fly later to a US air base in Germany.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department unleashed new sanctions Sunday against 11 people and companies involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program, just one day after President Obama lifted sanctions based on Iran’s nuclear program.

Rubio said that this is part of a pattern set by the Obama administration, citing the 2014 exchange of Cuban spies for a USA aide worker in Cuba and the swap of Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. “Can you even begin to imagine that sorrow, and now, even better, the incredible joy as they get their first hug from daddy”. The International Atomic Energy Agency certified Saturday that Iran had complied with the initial requirements of the nuclear deal, including shipping 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium out of the country and putting thousands of centrifuges into storage. “We are going to remain vigilant about it”. Kerry said the United States made it clear that it would not release a hardened criminal such as an accused murderer or someone with a narcotics record. We are also overjoyed to hear that other Americans being held in Iran also will soon be reunited with their families.

The family of Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran in 2007 and whose whereabouts remain unknown, started a frustrated hashtag of their own: #WhatAboutBob.

Attorneys for some of the released prisoners confirmed their identities: Bahram Mechanich and Tooraj Faridi of Houston; Khosrow Afghahi of Los Angeles; Ali Saboonchi of Parkville, Maryland; and Arash Ghahreman of Staten Island, New York.