WASHINGTON—The Americans freed by Iran over the weekend reunited with their families Monday at a US military base in Germany, but the relatives of another hostage expressed serious disappointment he had not been released.
Tehran released four Iranian-American dual nationals, some of whom had been held for years, in a prisoner swap, while a fifth American was freed separately.
In exchange, Washington granted clemency to seven Iranians. And it withdrew international arrest notices for 14 Iranians.
The prisoner swap came as the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed Iran had put a nuclear bomb beyond its immediate reach and the US and EU lifted their most draconian economic sanctions.
US diplomats insisted, to widespread skepticism, that the two breakthroughs were entirely separate.
On Monday, three of the freed Americans were receiving medical checkups at US military facilities in Landstuhl, Germany.
Relatives and supporters of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and Marine veteran Amir Hekmati saw them for the first time since being released and shared group photographs.
The family of Saeed Abedini was expected to arrive later.
The fourth freed Iranian-American, named Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, apparently chose to remain in Iran. Very little is publicly known about him.
Rezaian, 39, told his editors he was “feeling good” physically as he met with them for the first time since his release from Iran’s notorious Evin prison following a July 2014 arrest, The Washington Post reported.
In a photograph released by the paper, the usually portly Rezaian appeared to have lost a significant amount of weight.
“I want people to know that physically I’m feeling good,” Rezaian told the Post, dressed in a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.
“I know people are eager to hear from me, but I want to process this for some time.”
The Post noted that recovery in similar cases can take months or even years.