Iran prisoner looks forward to returning to MI

“I want people to know that physically I’m feeling good”, said Rezaian, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans provided to him on board the plane that flew the released prisoners to freedom.

Freed reporter Jason Rezaian said Wednesday he wants to write more about “the USA and Iranian story” but first needs time with his family to recover from 18 months in a Tehran prison.

Hekmati, a former USA marine from MI, has been undergoing medical and psychological evaluations in preparation to return home to the United States.

Accompanying Rezaian on the flight were his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian journalist, and his mother, Mary Rezaian.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iranians to remain “suspicious” of the U.S.in a letter to President Hassan Rouhani published on the Ayatollah’s website. A fifth man, described as a detained student named Matthew Trevithick, was released in a separate arrangement.

Abedini had been imprisoned since July 2012 for organizing home churches. Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, had been in captivity for several years after the Iranian government accused him of being a spy.

Also present were Hekmati’s twin sister, Leila, and Sarah Hekmati’s husband, Ramy Kurdi.

Officials have said Hekmati was put in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation. He was later placed in a 15-by-20-foot room with three cots and no mattresses, the Washington Post reported. He was kept in a small room with no mattress, and said walking around a courtyard was his only exercise. “They have been incredible”, he said.

In fact, it nearly fell apart many times along the way – including the very night the plane was set to take off. But they weren’t able to relax until the jet had left Iranian airspace, after which “champagne bottles were popped” and veal and chocolates were served, he said. According to Secretary of State John Kerry, the money Naqdi is referring to is supposedly going to be paid to the Iranian government by the U.S.to settle a debt over a military fund that existed between the us and the former shah, who ruled Iran prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

He also released a brief statement through the Post saying he wanted to “catch up with what’s been going on in the world, watch a (Golden State) Warriors game or two, and see the Star Wars movie”.

The conversations to release the prisoners began in the talks about the landmark nuclear deal signed with Iran, but McGurk said those negotiators realized they were working with the wrong power brokers.

Rezaian looked upbeat as he posed with his wife, mother and brother for cameras Wednesday before heading back inside the facility. It’s like being born again and I just really feel proud to be an American. “They have been incredible”. He expressed gratitude to President Barack Obama, U.S. Congress and his other supporters, reserving special thanks for the U.S. Marine Corps.

Khamenei, however, noted “pessimism” linked to comments by US politicians as global sanctions were lifted – a provision to the nuclear deal after Iran complied with measures to reduce its nuclear capacities and stockpiles.

The Treasury Department said the new sanctions apply to, among others, the Mabrooka Trading Co., based in the United Arab Emirates, and its networks there and in China.

Washington Post editors previously said that Rezaian “was in good spirits” and feeling “a hell of a lot better than [he] was 48 hours ago”.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said that 28 Iranians “were freed or were relieved of judicial restrictions” under the agreement.