TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iranian state television announced Saturday that the government had freed four dual-nationality prisoners, and a person close to Iran’s judiciary confirmed to The Associated Press that Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was one of them.
The report did not identify the prisoners and the person in Iran was speaking on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to publicly speak to the media. Rezaian is a dual Iran-U.S. citizen who was convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in 2015.
Washington Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti told the AP that she could not confirm any change in Rezaian’s case.
A report by the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted a statement from the Tehran prosecutor’s office as saying the inmates were freed “within the framework of exchanging prisoners.” It did not elaborate.
U.S. officials would not immediately confirm the announcement, but they had indicated a prisoner deal would be separate from Saturday’s expected “implementation” of the landmark nuclear agreement.