Iran frees four American prisoners, including reporter and pastor - state television

By Lesley Wroughton VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has released four American prisoners, including a Washington Post reporter, a Christian pastor and a former U.S. Marine, Iranian television said on Saturday. The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the reports. The move came ahead of the expected lifting of international sanctions on Iran later on Saturday as part of a landmark deal between major powers and Iran to curb Tehran's nuclear program. The Americans released included Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post's Tehran correspondent, Saeed Abedini, a pastor from Idaho, Amir Hekmati, a former Marine from Flint, Michigan, and Nosratollah Khosravi, state television said. Iran's IRNA news agency, however, said the fourth person was Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi. A deal on the prisoners would rank among the most high-profile results of a tentative thaw in ties between Washington and Tehran. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, welcomed the news but said he suspected that the deal would have disappointing elements as well. "Praise God! Surely bad parts of Obama's latest deal, but prayers of thanksgiving that Pastor Saeed is coming home," he wrote on Twitter. The formal implementation of the nuclear deal was due to be announced in Vienna on Saturday, giving Iran access to over $100 billion in assets frozen abroad in exchange for steps it has taken to curb its nuclear program. Iran's official IRNA news agency said the United States will free seven Iranian nationals in a prisoner swap. There was no immediate confirmation of that from the Obama administration. There are a dozen Iranians imprisoned or facing charges in the United States on sanctions-busting charges, according to a recent Reuters review of cases. Prosecutors say they violated economic sanctions against Iran by supplying technology that could have been used to bolster its military and nuclear programs. Iranian officials have called on President Barack Obama’s administration to pardon Iranians imprisoned in the United States on sanctions-related charges. LEVINSON NOT ON LIST Iranian officials have met recently with some of the prisoners held in the United States to see if they would be willing to return to Iran if a swap was agreed, said a person familiar with the cases who asked not to be identified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had insisted during the nuclear talks that the Obama administration wanted to keep separate the issue of the Americans being held in Iran, while calling on Tehran to release them and drop all charges. He has said that he didn’t want the U.S. prisoners to be “hostage” to the nuclear negotiations. Washington Post reporter Rezaian, 39, was arrested in July 2014 along with three other journalists, including his wife Yeganeh Salehi. All were freed except for Rezaian, an Iranian-American who was convicted in a closed-door trial for espionage and other offenses including "collaborating with hostile governments." The U.S. State Department called the charges "absurd." A Washington Post spokeswoman said the newspaper had not yet received official confirmation of Rezaian's release. Former Marine Hekmati, 32, was detained while visiting an Iranian relative in August 2011 and sentenced to death for espionage. He was re-sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2013 after the death sentence was overturned. Abedini, a 35-year-old American Christian pastor born in Iran, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2013 on charges of attempting to undermine the Iranian government. The inclusion of Nosratollah Khosravi on the list came as a surprise and there were no biographical details about him immediately available. Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent and DEA agent, who disappeared in Iran since 2007, was not among those released by Iran, according to the list of names broadcast by Iranian television. U.S. officials have believed for several years that Levinson died in captivity. Iranian officials had repeatedly denied any knowledge of his disappearance or whereabouts. Iran and the United States have been careful to avoid prolonging fights that would derail the nuclear deal’s implementation or the exchange of prisoners. On Wednesday, Iran released 10 U.S. sailors within a day after they had been detained when their two small boats entered Iranian waters. Washington also has not yet gone ahead with new sanctions targeting Iranian individuals and companies over their role in developing Iran’s ballistic missiles, which sources said the Obama administration was preparing late last year. (Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington, Editing by Stuart Grudgings and Ross Colvin)