US says Iran freeing 4 prisoners including Washington Post reporter

Iran said Saturday that four Iranian dual nationals had been freed as part of a prisoner exchange in line with national interests at the order of the country’s top security committee.

The four Iranian-American detainees set to be freed by Iran included Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and Saeed Abedini, a pastor from Idaho, a senior US official said. The others are Amir Hekmati and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, Washington said. A fifth American, identified as Matthew Trevitick, was also to be released as part of a different process.

The freed prisoners were to be flown from Iran to Switzerland on a Swiss plane and then brought to a US military base in Landstuhl, Germany, for medical treatment.

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In exchange Washington said it had granted clemency to seven Iranians, six of whom are dual US-Iranian citizens, and dropped charges against 14 more.

Amir Hekmati, a former US Marine imprisoned in Iran (photo credit: YouTube screenshot)

The seven Iranians to be freed by the US are Nader Modanlou, Baharam Mekanik, Khosrow Afghahi, Arash Ghahraman, Touraj Faridi, Nima Golestaneh, and Ali Sabounchi, according Iran’s judiciary and the state broadcaster.

Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations said Switzerland played a “positive role” in almost a year of efforts for the prisoner swap.

“It took almost a year and naturally the government of Switzerland as a facilitating country played a positive role in these negotiations,” Gholam Ali Khoshroo told state television.

Saeed Abedini (YouTube screen capture)

The Washington Post welcomed Iran’s release of its reporter, in a message from its publisher Frederick Ryan.

“We couldn’t be happier to hear the news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison. Once we receive more details and can confirm Jason has safely left Iran, we will have more to share,” he said.

Hekmati’s lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, said Hekmati called him earlier Saturday from prison.

“He told me that judiciary officials have called for a meeting with him. But I’ve not been formally informed if he is free now,” he said, adding that negotiations for the prisoners’ release has been going on for the past two months.

The negotiations over the American detainees grew out of the Iran nuclear talks. In discussions in Europe and elsewhere, Kerry and nuclear negotiator Wendy Sherman were able to establish a separate channel of talks that would focus on the US citizens.

But that channel was kept separate from the nuclear conversations. American officials didn’t want the citizens used as leverage in the nuclear talks, and didn’t want to lose their possible release if the talks failed to produce an agreement.

The discussions then gained speed after last July’s nuclear deal. In talks in Geneva and elsewhere, a team led by President Barack Obama’s anti-Islamic State group envoy, Brett McGurk, worked on the details of a possible prisoner swap. The Iranians originally sought 19 individuals as part of the exchange; US officials whittled down the number to seven.

The announcement came as Iran and world powers led by the United States were expected to finally implement last July’s nuclear deal, which will lift international sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic.

The 39-year-old Rezaian was born in California and holds both US and Iranian citizenships. He was convicted in closed proceedings last year after being charged with espionage and related allegations. The length of his sentence has not been disclosed publicly. The Post has denied the accusations against Rezaian.

Hekmati, of Flint, Michigan, was detained in August 2011 on espionage charges. Hekmati went to Iran to visit family and spend time with his ailing grandmother.

Abedini of Boise, Idaho, was detained for compromising national security, presumably because of Christian proselytizing, in September 2012. He was sentenced in 2013 to 8 years in prison.

Namazi is an Iranian-American businessman who advocated better ties between Iran and the US.

The release of the prisoners, along with the expected implementation of the nuclear deal and sanctions relief, caps a week of intense US-Iran diplomacy that took an unexpected turn on Tuesday with the detention by Iran of 10 US Navy sailors and their two boats in the Persian Gulf.

They were released in less than 24 hours after Kerry intervened with Zarif in multiple telephone calls that administration officials hailed as a channel of communication opened because of the nuclear negotiations.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.