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A plane carrying former prisoners Amir Hekmati and Jason Rezaian left Tehran today, January 17, following their release yesterday.
“Today, our brother, son and friend Amir Hekmati has been released from Iran. We have now been officially told that he is on a plane leaving the country,” said Amir Hekmati’s family in a statement.
Former marine Amir Hekmati, Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and a carpet designer, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, were released as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the US and Iran.
Rezaian was arrested in July 2014 and Hekmati in 2011. Both faced espionage charges. Abedini was jailed in 2012 on charges of threatening national security. A former prisoner told IranWire that authorities arrested Khosravi-Roodsari because he was allegedly in possession of evidence that proved that Robert Levinson, the CIA agent who disappeared in 2007, was still in Iran. Khosravi-Roodsari was not said to be on the plane leaving Tehran, though no details were available as to why.
The US government released seven people who had been jailed for violating sanction regulations.
Congressman Dan Kildee, who has advocated for Amir Hekmati’s release and invited Hekmati’s sister Sarah to President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 12, said he was “overcome with emotion” about the news.
“I am grateful to President Obama, Secretary Kerry and the entire Administration for never giving up on Amir and the other Americans that were held in Iran,” he said in a statement. “Their tireless work should be commended. Amir, I cannot wait to meet you for the first time, give you a big hug, and welcome you home.”
News of the release emerged on the same day the nuclear deal came into effect. Late on Saturday, January 16, the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency confirmed that Iran had begun curbing its nuclear program in line with the July 2015 nuclear agreement, which Iran and world powers reached after 18 months of negotiations. On January 17, President Hassan Rouhani said now that sanctions had been lifted, Iran was starting a “new chapter” and forming new ties with the international community.
Secretary of State John Kerry also released a statement saying that Iran and the United States had settled a longstanding claim at the Iran-US Tribunal in the Hague. The settlement was the latest in a series of claims resolved at the tribunal over the last 35 years.
"Iran will receive the balance of $400 million in the Trust Fund, as well as a roughly $1.3 billion compromise on the interest," the statement said. "Iran’s recovery was fixed at a reasonable rate of interest and therefore Iran is unable to pursue a bigger tribunal award against us, preventing U.S. taxpayers from being obligated to a larger amount of money."
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