Thumbnail bios of four US prisoners freed by Iran

The following are thumbnail sketches of the four Americans released Saturday by Iran as part of a prisoner swap with the United States.

-- Jason Rezaian --

Rezaian, 39, who holds dual American-Iranian citizenship, had been The Washington Post's correspondent in Tehran since 2012. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, he had relatively little exposure to Iran until he was in his 20s and his father began visiting his homeland. That sparked the younger Rezaian's interest and he began studying Farsi on his own, his brother Ali told The Post.

After completing his studies at the New School, a university in New York, in 2000, he spent more and more time in Iran, freelancing for Western news organizations. "It was really important to him that people understand what life was like in Iran," said Ali Rezaian.

Jason Rezaian's Iranian connection grew stronger still when he met Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian journalist. The two were married in April 2013 in Iran. But in July 2014 Iranian authorities raided the couple's apartment and took both into custody. Salehi was released three months later; Iran eventually tried Rezaian behind closed doors on charges including espionage -- charges that he, The Post and the US State Department vehemently rejected.

His captivity in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran damaged his health, family members said.

-- Amir Hekmati --

Hekmati is a 32-year-old American who was born in Arizona and grew up in Nebraska and Michigan. He is a decorated former US Marine infantry rifleman, linguist and translator who served in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion, according to the webpage www.freeamir.org.

Hekmati traveled to Iran in 2011 to visit relatives including his ailing grandmother and was arrested on charges of spying for the CIA.

His ordeal included a forced confession aired on Iranian TV, his family says.

"I barely recognized him," his twin sister Leila said of the video, according to Al-Jazeera. "He looked like he lost 50 to 60 pounds, easily. And it seemed very forced and scripted."

In 2012 Hekmati was tried and sentenced to death; this was overturned by a higher court, but in 2013 Hekmati got a 10-year jail sentence on grounds he had spied for hostile governments.

-- Saeed Abedini --

Abedini, a 35-year-old Iranian native, was ordained a minister in 2008 through the American Evangelistic Association and conducted services in underground churches in Iran. A convert from Islam to Christianity, he gained US citizenship through his marriage in 2010 to his wife Nagmeh, and he traveled often between the countries.

Abedini was arrested in September 2012 on a trip to Iran to set up an orphanage. He was sentenced the following January by the Iranian Revolutionary Court to eight years in prison on charges of disrupting national security through his work with the so-called house churches.

His family said his work with the churches took place when they were largely tolerated under the reformist president Mohammad Khatami, and that Abedini had abided by a 2009 agreement, made after a previous detention, to halt such activity.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a Christian-based group that has represented Abedini's wife and children, said he was tortured while in prison and beaten by fellow inmates, suffering facial injuries.

-- Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari --

Little is known about this person.

In exchange for the release of the Americans, the United States granted clemency to seven Iranians. Six had dual citizenship. All seven had either been convicted or were awaiting trial in the United States on charges of violating sanctions.

The seven are Nader Modanlou, Baharam Mekanik, Khosrow Afghahi, Arash Ghahraman, Touraj Faridi, Nima Golestaneh, and Ali Sabounchi, according to Iran's judiciary and the state broadcaster.

A US official said that the United States also removed any Interpol "red" notices -- essentially international arrest warrants -- "and dismissed any charges against 14 Iranians for whom it was assessed that extradition requests were unlikely to be successful."