Prisoner exchanges between Iran and United States

On the night of July 22, 2014, Iranian government security forces raided Rezaian's Tehran residence and arrested him and his wife. The agents reportedly confiscated laptops, books, and notes [6][7] Rezaian's trial began on May 26, 2015, at Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The proceedings were not open to the public. According to his brother, Ali Rezaian, the Iranian government rested its accusations on two pieces of evidence: an American visa application for Jason's wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and a form letter sent to Barack Obama's 2008 White House transition team offering assistance in improving Iran-U.S. relations.[8] On Nov. 22, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary said Jason had been sentenced to prison but did not provide further details.[9]

On January 16, 2016, it was announced that Rezaian had been released from Iran along with three other United States prisoners.[10][11] On the same day, America delivered $1700 million in frozen accounts to Iran.[12] Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans (Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari) accused of spying for the United States were swapped for one Iranian and six Iranian-Americans (Nader Modanlo, Bahram Mechanic, Khosrow Afghani, Arash Ghahreman, Tooraj Faridi, Nima Golestaneh and Ali Saboun) who were accused of violating US sanctions against Iran.[13][14]

The NYT described the exchange as removing "a big source of irritation" between the two countries ever since their relationship broke down in 1979-1981 Tehran hostage crisis.[15]

For the first time, in April 2019, negotiation over prisoners with the United States was offered publicly by Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif during a talk at the Asia Society in New York, when the diplomatic relationship has worsened between two involved countries. Zarif had made the offer previously on 2018 CBS’s “Face the Nation”, calling it “a possibility certainly from a humanitarian perspective,” but one that “requires a change of attitude” by the Trump government. At least four American citizens were imprisoned in Iran and at least a dozen or more Iranians were arrested by the American authorities.[1][16]

An e-mail by a State Department official stated their awareness of Zarif's offer saying that " the United States had repeatedly called for a “humanitarian resolution” of prisoner cases" and “the Iranian regime can demonstrate its seriousness regarding consular issues, including Iranians who have been indicted or convicted of criminal violations of U.S. sanctions laws, by releasing innocent U.S. persons immediately.”[1]

According to a New Yorker report, months of exchange negotiations involving former US Ambassador to the UN, Bill Richardson, made the exchange of prisoners possible. Trump administration said the deal was "negotiated by current US officials" but Mohsen Baharvand, a top Zarif adviser involved in the exchange process confirmed talks with Richardson and the current administration but also said that "there was absolutely no direct negotiation, not even during the brief swap in Switzerland".[17]

On 9 December 2019, in a deal facilitated by the Swiss government, Iranian prisoner Masoud Soleimani was swapped with Xiyue Wang in Zurich with the Presence of Brian Hook, the US State Department's special Iran representative. Soleimani as a high-profile stem cell scientist was arrested on the charge of violating US sanctions on Iran in October 2018. On the other hand, Xiyue Wang was an American student of Chinese origin who was arrested for "espionage" since 2016.[17]

Routers described the swap as “a rare act of cooperation between two longtime foes”.[3] On Twitter Trump appreciated Iran for a “very fair negotiation” as well as the Swiss government, he said that it illustrates “the United States and Iran can make a deal together”.[3][18]