US citizens leave Iran in prisoner exchange

Three Iranian-Americans left Tehran yesterday under a prisoner swap following the lifting of sanctions on Iran that is likely to thaw ties further with the US as Tehran emerges from years of international isolation.

A US official said the Swiss plane had left carrying Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Saeed Abedini, a pastor from Idaho and Amir Hekmati, a former Marine from Flint, Michigan, as well as some family members.

One more Iranian-American released under the same swap, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, was not aboard the aircraft. A fifth prisoner, the American student Matthew Trevithick, was released separately from the other four on Saturday.