Third Iranian-American Released on the Brink of JCPOA Sues Iran

Farzad Khosravi, also known as Nasratollah Khosravi Roudsari, one of four Iranian-Americans released during a prisoner exchange and the implementation of the JCPOA, has filed a lawsuit against Iran in a U.S. court, seeking over $40 million in damages. According to the Associated Press, Khosravi, known as Nasratollah Khosravi, filed the complaint on Monday in a court in Washington, D.C. In his lawsuit, Khosravi stated that he applied for asylum in the U.S. in 1982 but returned to Iran in 2012, where his passport was initially confiscated. The lawsuit also specifies that after some time, security forces returned his passport, but in 2015, he was 'arrested and tortured while attempting to leave the country.' The Associated Press reports that Khosravi's attorney has not provided further details regarding the complaint. There has been little information published in Iranian media about the circumstances and details of Khosravi's arrest, but he was among the four individuals released on the brink of the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, known as the JCPOA. Concurrently with the implementation of the JCPOA, on January 16 of last year, Jason Rezaian, a journalist for the Washington Post, Amir Hekmati, a former Marine, Saeed Abedini, a Christian convert, and Nasratollah Khosravi Roudsari, four Iranian-American citizens, were released from Iranian prisons, and in exchange for their release, the U.S. government agreed to release seven Iranian prisoners in the country. Prior to this, Amir Hekmati filed a lawsuit in a Washington court against Iranian officials for his torture during detention. Subsequently, Jason Rezaian and his family filed a lawsuit against the Iranian government in a federal court in the U.S. on October 12. Rezaian stated that he was a hostage of the Islamic Republic and was subjected to physical and psychological abuse during his 18 months in prison. An Iranian parliament member stated after Rezaian's lawsuit on October 17 that the U.S. was supposed to release 20 Iranian prisoners in exchange for Rezaian's freedom, but 'did not adhere to its commitment.' Abolfazl Hosseini-Bigi, the deputy chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, stated that Rezaian's 'espionage' for Mossad and U.S. intelligence agencies had been established and that he had carried out 'various missions' in Iran on behalf of the U.S.