Jason Rezaian makes first public appearance after release

Another of the released prisoners, 32-year-old former USA marine Amir Hekmati, also released a statement.

Rezaian, who was born in California and holds both US and Iranian citizenship, was convicted in closed proceedings a year ago after being charged with espionage and related allegations.

He made a brief appearance there on Wednesday, waving to the assembled media and marking the first time he has been seen in public since his release from Iran.

Rezaian, along with former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati and pastor Saeed Abedini arrived late Sunday at Landstuhl for treatment. They are now being evaluated at Landstuhl, the largest USA military hospital overseas.

While not specifically included as part of the deal, Iran agreed to release four Americans it was holding prisoner.

“Asked how he was doing, he said, ‘I’m a hell of a lot better than I was 48 hours ago.’ He said that he feels better than he did several months ago and that his mind is sharp”. A sigh of relief when they finally lifted off turned into a celebration when the plane cleared Iranian airspace to cheers and the popping of champagne. “The hospitality. Chocolates. Veal was served”. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., came to visit the men upon their release. “This has been going on far too long”. “This has really been an exceptional time for me”.

“One of the things I found the most interesting which speaks to his humility is that he was absolutely surprised to hear about all the effort and all the people and all the organizations and all the attention that was garnered aorund his case”, Kildee said.

Landstuhl says in addition to medical checks, “a critical part of this process is the decompression period”.

“Expressions by some US politicians in recent days are a matter of pessimism”, Khamenei said without elaborating. USA secretary of state John Kerry had to call his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and tell him “Javad, look, it’s part of the agreement”, Mr Kerry himself said.

Hekmati said he was “ecstatic, happy, anxious to get home”, because being held captive “takes such a toll on you”. “And I just really feel proud to be an American”.

Hekmati has seen his sister and brother-in-law and said he hopes to return home soon to be reunited with the rest of his family. Hekmati ate his first steak in years, Kildee said. “He’s just focused on getting his feet under him”. He did honor to his country. “I think it helped him understand exactly how significant his story had become”.