Amir Hekmati, released from an Iranian prison, is happy to finally be home in Michigan. Photo / AP
A Christian minister (click here) and a former US Marine who were released by Iran in a prisoner swap have returned to the United States after years behind bars in the Islamic republic.
Pastor Saeed Abedini, 35, arrived in North Carolina today, a spokesman for a Christian group said.
Ex-Marine Amir Hekmati, 32, touched down in a private jet at the airport in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and stepped on to a small red carpet on the tarmac.
The men were among five Americans whose release coincided with the lifting last weekend of economic sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme. The White House offered clemency to seven Iranians who were convicted, or facing trial, in the United States.
Hekmati spent more than four years in jail in Iran where he faced the death sentence at one point....
