A U.S. permanent resident was freed from Iran after being imprisoned there since 2015

Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Nizar Zakka.
(Image credit: ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)

Amid rising tensions with the United States, Iran released Nizar Zakka, a 52-year-old Lebanese man and permanent U.S. resident, who had been held in Iranian prison since 2015. Zakka is reportedly en route back to Lebanon as of Tuesday.

Zakka, an IT expert, was arrested after attending a conference in Tehran, to which he was invited by the Iranian government. The U.S. protested his imprisonment and called for his release, and an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed regret over the matter, blaming Iran's judiciary branch and the limited authority of the civilian government.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.