Thursday, January 28, 2016

None Of Iranians Freed In Prisoner Swap Choose To Return To Iran

By KATHERINE KRUEGER AND ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published JANUARY 19, 2016, 2:54 PM EST 

Not one of the seven Iranians freed from U.S. custody in a prisoner swap over the weekend has chosen to return to Iran, ABC News reported Tuesday.

After secret negotiations paved the way for the prisoners’ release, a plane carrying Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini departed Tehran for Geneva, Switzerland on Sunday. The fourth prisoner freed, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, decided not to leave Iran.

But none of the Iranian-Americans freed from U.S. custody after being accused or convicted of violating sanctions boarded the flight that would have returned them to Iran, according to ABC. Six of the seven men are U.S./Iran dual citizens.

Kent Schaffer, an attorney representing Tooraj Faridi, one of the men released, said his client would stay in the U.S. and hasn’t traveled to Iran in years.

“He has not been in Iran in years, has no plans to go there, and will remain here at his home. He is an American and will remain in America,” Schaffer told ABC.

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