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Iran Releases Four US Prisoners

Iran has released four Iranian Americans as part of a prisoner exchange agreement. The office of the Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said:  “In line with ratifications of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the Islamic establishment’s general expediencies, four Iranian prisoners, who hold dual nationality, have been released within the framework of a prisoner swap” One of the prisoners is believed to be Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was as convicted of espionage in Iran last year. The BBC reports: News of the releases came after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif predicted that international sanctions against his country would be lifted on Saturday. He is in Vienna for talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry over Iran’s nuclear deal. The international nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, is expected to confirm that Iran has scaled back its atomic activities in line with the agreement, to focus exclusively on peaceful atomic purposes. Billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets are expected to be released and the sale of Iranian oil on the world market will again be permitted. In addition to Jason Rezaian, the Associated Press has named as US prisoners held in Iran Former Marine Amir Hekmati of Flint, [...]