A Member of Parliament: The U.S. Was Supposed to Release 20 Prisoners in Exchange for the Release of Rezaian

The Vice Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament stated that the U.S. was supposed to release 20 Iranian prisoners in exchange for the freedom of Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post journalist, but has "not adhered to its commitment." Abolfazl Hosseinbeigi said on Saturday, October 9, to the Mizan news agency that the names of those who were supposed to be exchanged with Mr. Rezaian are "not to be announced" until they are released. He added, "Without a doubt, if these names are announced, considering that they are still in prison, the pressure from the Americans on them will increase." The representative from Damghan emphasized that Rezaian's "espionage" for Mossad and U.S. intelligence agencies had been "proven" and that he had carried out "various missions" in Iran on behalf of the U.S. On January 16, coinciding with the implementation of the JCPOA, Jason Rezaian, former Marine Amir Hekmati, Christian convert Saeed Abedini, and Iranian-American Nasratollah Khosravi were released from Iranian prisons, and in exchange for their freedom, the U.S. agreed to release seven Iranian prisoners in its country. It later became clear that simultaneously with the release of these four prisoners from Iranian prisons, the U.S. sent $400 million in cash, part of Iran's confiscated assets related to arms purchases from the U.S. during the Shah's time, to Tehran via a plane. This issue drew criticism from Republicans, and President Barack Obama responded to the criticisms by stating that following a ruling from the International Court of Justice regarding Iran's frozen assets, lawyers and legal advisors recommended that this money be paid, otherwise billions of dollars in damages would have to be paid to Iran in the future. Subsequently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on October 24 prohibiting any cash payments to Iran, and the government was required to inform Congress before settling any financial claims with Iran. On October 3, Jason Rezaian and his family filed a lawsuit against the Iranian government in a U.S. federal court. Mr. Rezaian claimed he was a hostage of the Islamic Republic and had been subjected to mental and physical abuse during his 18 months in prison. In response to this lawsuit, Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, stated that a similar lawsuit against the U.S. would be filed in Iranian courts. Mr. Boroujerdi did not refer to the details of the lawsuit and the accusations that would be made against the U.S. Meanwhile, several members of Parliament, including Hossein Naqavi Hosseini and Kamal Dehghani Firouzabadi, stated in an interview with the House of the Nation website that Mr. Rezaian's lawsuit was "legally unfounded" and asserted that his "espionage" for the Washington Post had been "proven," but he was released with "Islamic mercy." Tehran representative Alireza Rahimi also suggested, without referring to details, that the aim of this lawsuit was to benefit the U.S. presidential elections. Previously, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, had mentioned on February 11, 2016, regarding the prisoner exchange between Iran and the U.S. that "Republican rivals of the U.S. government sent messages not to release them, but we acted according to our own will." Before Jason Rezaian's lawsuit against Iran, Amir Hekmati had announced that he had filed a complaint against Iranian officials for "torture."