Obama pardons Iranians charged with sanctions violations

Iranian state television said earlier that Khosravi-Roodsari was one of four released prisoners who flew out of the country on a “special Swiss plane”.

Three of the four prisoners released in a prisoner swap between Iran and America over the weekend have arrived in Europe, on their way back to the United States.

Indeed, after the nuclear agreement was announced, the State Department warned that Americans visiting Iran were subject to detention and imprisonment on false charges.

Abedini, an Iran native and convert to Christinanity, was arrested in 2012 and convicted the next year on charges of attempting to undermine the Iranian government.

India, which had substantially reduced its oil imports from Iran under U.S. pressure, can now freely import oil from Tehran, but would now have to pay for it in dollars.

The nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers requires that Iran curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of UN-approved sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.

Levinson’s case was aggressively pursued, officials said, adding that Iran has committed to continue cooperating in trying to determine Levinson’s whereabouts.

“We are relieved that this 545-day nightmare for Jason and his family is finally over”.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement also read in Farsi by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif, that the accord “demonstrates that with political will, perseverance, and through multilateral diplomacy we can solve the most hard issues and find practical solutions that are effectively implemented”.

All seven of the Iranians released are legally allowed to stay in the USA, and some have indicated that they do not want to return to Iran.

The secret talks were led by Brett McGurk, the USA special envoy tapped by President Barack Obama to coordinate the global fight against the ISIS terrorist group, senior US administration officials said.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has also spoken critically of the Iran deal, similarly said that the United States should not have had to make any concessions to get the Americans released. “I fail to see how this trend will improve the long-term security of the United States and its citizens”.

After a brief stopover in Geneva, they have now headed to a hospital near the U.S. military’s Ramstein air base – and there is little word on when they might return to America.

“I am very happy to say that as we speak, we have received confirmation that five Americans who had been unjustly detained in Iran have been released from custody and should be on their way home to their family shortly”, Kerry told reporters. He was sentenced to death, but that was commuted to a 10-year prison term. “But we remain in hopeful anticipating until Amir is in our arms”. Kerry and Zarif met on the sidelines of the talks to discuss the prisoners. The Iranians have always denied knowing his location.

Things progressed significantly by a November meeting in Vienna on Syria’s civil war, when, for the first time, Iran was included in the discussions. Taherkhani was accused in 2014 of using a Dubai front company to buy U.S.-made marine navigation equipment for use in Iran, in violation of sanctions.