Released US prisoner speaks on ordeal

(Courtesy of the Hekmati Family via AP). After a higher court ordered a retrial, he was sentenced in 2014 to 10 years on a lesser charge.

The Americans’ flight from Iran was delayed because of confusion over the whereabouts of Rezaian’s wife and mother, whom US officials had insisted be part of the release deal.

Hekmati was arrested in August 2011 on espionage charges dismissed by his family.

“As soon as we got out of Iranian air space, the champagne bottles were popped, “Hekmati said”.

The 39-year-old reporter, whose reporting career has focused on writing about the relationship between the U.S. and Iran, added that he someday wants “to get back to writing the U.S.-Iran story”.

Hekmati did not provide details about his time in prison. “I feel alive for the first time”.

“Why did Iran prisoner swap not include my father?” said Sarah Moriarty.

Also released in the deal were Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, 35, of Boise, Idaho, and another Iranian-American, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, who opted to remain in Iran.

The United States also agreed to drop charges against 14 other Iranians whose extradition seemed unlikely, a USA official said.

In exchange for the American prisoners’ freedom, Washington pardoned or commuted the sentences of an Iranian and six people of dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship in what President Barack Obama called a “one-time gesture”.

During his imprisonment he was often held in solitary confinement, according to Kildee, and his family received word at times that conditions at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran where he was held included blackouts, a lack of heat, rat infestations and a diet of parasite-filled lentils and rice. Hekmatis two sisters are also staying at the base with him.“We were speechless for a while, ” he said. His family lives near Flint, which has also drawn attention lately because of a drinking water crisis involving elevated lead levels in children.

In addition to his brief comments, Mr Rezaian issued a statement in which he said he wanted “to catch up with what’s been going on in the world, watch a Warriors game or two, and see the Star Wars movie”. “But what amazed me about my time with him last night is his spirit — if the Republican Guard thought they’d break the spirit of this guy, they failed miserably”. “I really want to see my family and be back in the land of the free”.

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