Iran has finally freed 4 U.S. prisoners, one of which being journalist Jason Rezaian. Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini were all being held on different charges. Nosratollah Khosrawi was also freed but details on his case are currently unknown at the moment.
The United Stated did a prisoner swap with Iran as they released seven Iranian-Americans who were held on charges that were related to sanctions against Iran.
Back in 2014, U.S. journalist Jason Rezaian was arrested and charged with a slew of charges. One of which being espionage. Rezaian was a worker for the Washington Post. He was their Tehran bureau chief. Both the U.S. and the Washington Post says that the charges were pretty absurd.
In 2011, Hekmati was arrested a few weeks after he traveled to Iran to visit his grandmother. He also had a slew of charges against him including espionage. Hekmati was a Marine infantryman and Arabic and Persian linguist. Hekmati made an appearance on television where he said he was a worker of the CIA which the US State Department said was forced and fabricated. His death was punishment but was later overturned. Instead, he was convicted of “cooperating with hostile governments.” He then was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Abedini was a Iran native who later converted to Christianity. He was arrested in 2012 and charged with attempting to undermine the Iranian government. He was sentenced to eighth years in jail. Prior to this arrest, he was arrested and then released after he promised to stop putting together churches inside of homes. Abedini tried to build a state-run secular orphanage during a trip. It was during this trip that he was arrested.
The The American Center for Law and Justice is a group in Washintogn that is dedicated to protecting not only religious but constitutional freedoms. Abedini reportedly suffered a hard time while in the prison. He was mistreated and beaten up by fellow prisoners.
Robert Levinson, a former CIA contractor and FBI agent, disappeared in 2007 after visiting Iran. However, Iran is denying knowing anything about his whereabouts. He was not included in the freed prisoners. We are glad to have our people back.
Source: CNN
