Advertisement Banner
 |
| Washington Post bureau chief Jason Rezaian was detained in Iran in 2014. ZOEANN MURPHY/WASHINGTON POST |
A source said Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini and Siamak Namazi were all released on Saturday in exchange for the release of seven Iranians held in US prisons.
He didn't name the Iranians but said the seven have already arrived in Tehran.The souce said: "Authorities at the top had agreed to free the four Iranian-Americans only after the Iranian prisoners land in Tehran."
Rezaian was detained in mid-2014, and convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial last year.
The US confirmed the prisoner swap, but described it as a humanitarian gesture, not a traditional spy swap.
Earlier, the EU's top diplomat met with Iran's foreign minister for talks on implementing the nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, as the UN atomic agency works on a report certifying that Iran has met its commitments under the accord.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will join Federica Mogherini of the European Union and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, the headquarters of the U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency, later Saturday.
IAEA certification that Iran is honoring its obligations would trigger sanctions relief for Iran worth an estimated US$100 billion (NZ$154 billion).
Under the July 14, 2015, deal between Iran and six world powers, Tehran Iran agreed to crimp programs it could use to make nuclear weapons in return for an end to international nuclear-related sanctions
Iran says it has no interest in such arms.
- AP
Advertisement Banner
No comments:
Post a Comment