Sister of American Released by Iran Arrives in Germany

Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee said Sunday in Flint he can’t wait to meet Amir Hekmati in person.

“Amir Hekmati is coming home”, the president said.

“I join the Hekmati family, the State of MI and the entire country in celebrating the release of Amir Hekmati”.

There was no immediate word yet on Hekmati’s condition after some 4 1/2 years in an Iranian prison.

U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow co-sponsored a resolution in the U.S. Senate calling on Iran to release all the U.S. hostages being held in Iran, including Amir Hekmati. “At this point, we are hoping and praying for Amir’s long-awaited return”. “We thank our government, and we thank all of you whose thoughts and prayers helped us tremendously since Amir was taken from us in 2011”. He was born in the U.S.to Iranian-born parents. A fifth American was released separately.

Hekmati’s sister, Sarah Hekmati, was upbeat as she arrived Monday at Frankfurt airport before heading toward the USA military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, where her brother was being treated along with Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and pastor Saeed Abedini. I am overcome with emotion that after four and a half years, this bad ordeal is ending and the Hekmati family will soon be reunited with Amir.

During negotiations over a deal to lift longstanding sanctions on Iran in exchange for it greatly reducing its nuclear program, Obama administration officials pointedly noted they would not make the release of the prisoners a condition in the agreement, which they believed could be seen as giving legitmacy to their incarceration.

In turn, 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.