With chocolates and champagne, group of ex-prisoners leaves Iran

LANDSTUHL, Germany — Champagne flowed and chocolates were passed around moments after a group of former Iranian American prisoners left Iranian airspace aboard a special Swiss jet that carried them to freedom.

“Everybody was sort of in a state of disbelief, and we still are,” said former Marine Amir Hekmati yesterday as he described the scene on the flight with two other former detainees, including a Washington Post reporter and a Christian pastor.

The group was among four Iranian Americans, including Post reporter Jason Rezaian, released Saturday as part of a two-country deal under which the United States also pardoned or dropped charges against 21 Iranians in sanctions-related cases.

In addition, Iran released a fifth American, student Matthew Trevithick, 30, in a what U.S. officials described as a separate “humanitarian gesture” that coincided with the lifting of international sanctions on Iran as part of a nuclear pact with world powers.

Hekmati, who spent more than four years in an Iranian prison, said he felt “alive for the first time, like being born again,” as he recounted the dizzying events of the past days: A prison guard telling him to pack, a “nerve-wracking” delay in leaving Iran and the trip that ended at a U.S. military hospital in Germany for medical tests.

Before his release, he was “at the point where I had just accepted that I was going to be spending 10 years in prison,” said Hekmati of Flint, Mich., who was arrested by Iranian security forces in 2011 and faced espionage-related charges.

Hekmati, appearing calm and healthy, wore a heavy black sweater and jeans as he met journalists near the entrance to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center with his brother-in-law and Rep. Daniel Kildee, the Democratic congressman from his district in Michigan. Hekmati’s two sisters are also staying at the base with him.

“We were speechless for a while,” he said. “But I’ve said a lot and we still have a lot to talk about.”

Hekmati also expressed deep gratitude for the support from loved ones abroad, as well as the media, and even from elected officials, including U.S. congressmen and President Barack Obama.

“Even the Iranian officials, our captors essentially, were amazed,” he said. “They asked us why are they working so hard for you? And I just said that it’s America and they love their citizens. Even the other Iranian prisoners were moved.”

When the plane finally took off, and then cleared Iranian airspace, the celebration began.

“Champagne bottles were popped,” Hekmati said. “The Swiss are amazing. The hospitality, chocolates, veal was served” aboard the private jet provided by the Swiss, who handle American diplomatic affairs with Iran.

Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter, also was undergoing medical tests at the U.S. military hospital after almost 18 months in an Iranian prison.

Rezaian, 39, stood trial behind closed doors in a Revolutionary Court on charges including espionage, allegations he strongly denied. He was found guilty last year and sentenced to a prison term, but the secretive court disclosed neither the specific charges on which he was convicted nor the length of the term.

“I want people to know that physically, I’m feeling good,” Rezaian said during meetings Monday with The Washington Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron, and foreign editor, Douglas Jehl. “I know people are eager to hear from me, but I want to process this for some time.”

Also released in the deal were Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, 35, of Boise, Idaho, and another Iranian American, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, who opted to remain in Iran. The student, Trevithick, flew out Saturday on his own.

Accompanying Rezaian on the flight were his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian journalist, and his mother, Mary Rezaian.