Iran says citizen held in Germany at US request freed

An Iranian man arrested in Germany on suspicion of violating US sanctions has returned home after being released, the country’s foreign ministry says.

Ahmad Khalili had been detained “on the pretext of violating the illegal and cruel sanctions of the United States,” ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi says.

He does not specify when Khalili was arrested or give details on his identity.

Khalili was freed last night after “intensive diplomatic consultations” and cooperation involving the judiciary and the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence service, Mousavi says in a statement.

He returned to Iran together with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who last week attended a security conference in the German city of Munich, the spokesman says.

— AP