On Sunday, Iran suddenly refused to allow the wife and mother of Jason Rezanian, the Washington Post reporter at the center of a U.S.-Iran prisoner swap, to leave with him, nearly sinking the carefully negotiated agreement. Rezanian's mother, Mary, and wife, Yeganeh, were being held without telephones at a room in the Tehran airport, but U.S. officials and the Swiss negotiators representing the U.S. had no idea where they were. "The U.S. stuck to its guns, they had said Yegi had to come along with Jason and they got her out," Ali Rezaian, Jason Rezanian's brother, told CNN on Monday.
The missing mother and wife prompted a call from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to call his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who reportedly intervened and helped break the logjam. "We started to conclude that Mary and Yegi were being held to destroy the deal," an American official tells The New York Times, comparing the situation to the movie Argo. Jason Rezanian and two of the five other Iranian-Americans arrived in Landstulh, Germany, on Sunday, and they are undergoing medical evaluations.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veteransUnder the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
5 simple items to help make your airplane seat more comfortableThe Week Recommends Gel cushions and inflatable travel pillows make a world of difference
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
