Jason Rezaian leaves Germany, heads for U.S.

Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post journalist who was recently freed from an Iran prison after 18 months, had some help from a powerful American getting home to the U.S.: Washington Post owner and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

After his release, Rezaian spent several days at the US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

File-Iran’s trial of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian began in Tehran on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, under a cloak of secrecy and global condemnation.

Those were the words uttered by Yeganeh Salehi, the wife of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, to her mother-in-law as the two women spent hours in the hands of Iranian security services at the time of Rezaian’s release from prison. But they also expressed their happiness that Rezaian and the others would soon be coming home.

Rezaian, who was born in California and holds dual US and Iranian citizenship, was accused of espionage by Iran.

“I want everyone to know that I’m feeling fine, and I feel lucky to be here at a place where I can get such terrific care”, he said in a statement earlier this week.

“Jeff had dinner with the Rezaians Thursday evening at the Army base in Germany and then flew them back home”, she told CNN.

Rezaian says he plans to eventually tell the story of his time behind bars and return to writing about U.S.-Iranian relations, but for the time being, he just wants to “catch up with what’s been going on in the world, watch a Warriors game or two, and see the Star Wars movie”.

CNN reports that, according to a Post source, Rezaian and his family members were traveling on a private jet with Bezos on Friday.

Rezaian’s brother Ali along with executives at the Post had led the effort to seek their release, urging the Obama administration to press the issue with Iran. They were able to meet with him on Monday.