What US reporter freed from Iran wants to do next

Teheran released four Iranian-American dual nationals, some of whom had been held for years, in a prisoner swop, while a fifth American was freed separately.

Hekmati, 32, spoke to reporters outside the USA military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he and two other freed Americans are undergoing medical evaluations. “We are just soaking it in right now”, said Hekmati, who was born in Arizona and lived in Flint, Mich., before his arrest.

“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.

Hekmati, who spent more than four years in an Iranian prison, said he felt “alive for the first time, like being born again”, as he recounted the dizzying events of the past days: A prison guard telling him to pack, a “nerve-wracking” delay in leaving Iran and the trip that ended at a US military hospital in Germany for medical tests.

“I was anxious that maybe the Iranian side was going to make new demands in the last minute or that the deal wasn’t going to work out so up until the last second, we were all anxious and concerned”, veteran Marine Amir Hekmati said on board a Swiss jet that carried the released prisoners out of Iran.

And then “champagne bottles were popped” and veal and chocolates went around, he said.

Hekmati said there was no warning that he would be released.

Rep. Jared Huffman, from California, expressed thanks to the U.S. State Department for negotiating the men’s release.

They were only allowed to leave along with prisoners released in the exchange deal following pressure from U.S. officials.

Khosravi-Roodsari, the fourth American, opted to remain in Iran after his release.

Officials have said Hekmati was put in solitary confinement and subjected to sleep deprivation.

Kildee said the three men would return to the US “as soon as possible”.

Hekmati, an Iranian-American, was arrested in 2011 on spying charges while visiting his grandmother.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday there was no direct link between the release of Americans detained in Iran and the lifting of punishing sanctions against Tehran.

But amid all the celebrations, another family said it had been left “crushed and outraged”.

The Obama administration also agreed to drop charges against 14 other Iranians outside the U.S.

Dehghan said Iran would expand its program by “unveiling new missile achievements soon”.

Khamenei, however, noted “pessimism” linked to comments by USA politicians as global sanctions were lifted – a provision to the nuclear deal after Iran complied with measures to reduce its nuclear capacities and stockpiles.

Hekmati did not elaborate on his four-and-a-half years in prison, but when asked how he was feeling, he responded, “I am well, and I’m only going to get better, I hope”.