Americans in Iran swap ‘about to take off’

A fifth American was released separately from the exchange. Ghahreman, an Iranian-American in his mid-40s, was serving a 78-month sentence after being convicted in 2015 of trying to export US built marine navigation to Iran.

Jamie Bowers, a spokesman for Pittenger, said the congressman “is extremely grateful that the American hostages have been freed”. He was the newspaper’s Tehran bureau chief.

“We have now been officially told that he is on a plane leaving the country”, the family said in a statement. The former Marine infantryman and Arabic and Persian linguist was accused of espionage and other charges in 2012. Sentenced to death for spying, this was later commuted to 10 years in prison.

It was unclear who Khosravi is.

The U.S. and Iran consummated a historic-though controversial-legal deal Saturday that freed several Iranian- Americans facing charges in Iran and offered clemency to six Iranian-Americans and one Iranian either facing charges or convicted of charges in the U.S.

The Obama administration said it was prepared to test whether additional cooperation with Iran was possible, most notably in resolving the civil war in Syria.

US officials said he was released earlier and was already on his way home, while the four in the negotiated swap were still in Iran on Sunday as work progressed to get them on a plane. They added that his decision is of his own making and stated that, “We don’t make that judgment”.

It’s unclear how long the medical evaluations will take, but the former prisoners are expected to meet with friends and family as early as Monday.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a Washington-based group dedicated to protecting religious and constitutional freedoms, reported that Abedini was tortured during his imprisonment and beaten by fellow prisoners in June. “Let’s celebrate and then do not forget to keep praying as Pastor Abedini recovers from the injuries he suffered in prison and transitions back to family life”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s declaration unlocked some $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets overseas, and potentially even greater economic benefits through suspended oil, trade and financial sanctions by the USA and European Union.

Who did Iran get in return?

Their flight from Iran was delayed for a time due to confusion over the whereabouts of Rezaian’s wife and mother, whom USA officials had insisted be part of the release deal.

Mr. Mechanic, Tooraj Faridi, and Khosrow Afghahi were three of the seven Iranian-Americans granted pardons Saturday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials said Khosravi-Roodsari – about whom little is known – elected not to board the plane for Switzerland.

The prisoner swap comes a day after worldwide inspectors concluded Tehran was in compliance with the deal governing its nuclear program.

What does lifting economic sanctions mean for Iran? United States officials say his release was not part of the prisoner swap.

“The nuclear negotiations which succeeded by the guidance of the Supreme Leader and support of our nation, were truly a golden page in Iran’s history”, he said.

Mr. Androphy would be shown a copy of the pardon signed by Mr. Obama, but it wasn’t effective until the prisoners held in Iran were released.

Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007 while working for the CIA on an unapproved intelligence mission, wasn’t part of the deal.

Rezaian is a 39-year-old dual U.S.-Iranian citizen born in California and detained in Iran in July 2014.

Obama said Iran has a vibrant culture that has so much to contribute to the world in commerce, science and the arts, but “your government’s threats and actions to destabilize your region have isolated Iran from much of the world”.