Wheaton Central Grad Jason Rezaian Freed from Iran Prison and is Headed Home

Iran has freed Washington Post reporter and Wheaton Central High School alum Jason Rezaian, according to media reports.

Rezaian was headed back to the United States, Frederick K. Ryan, publisher of the Washington Post, said in a statement Sunday morning.

“Friends and colleagues at The Washington Post are elated by the wonderful news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison and has safely left the country with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi,” Ryan said. ”We are relieved that this 545-day nightmare for Jason and his family is finally over. We are pleased to see that Iran released four other Americans, and our hope is that those who remain held will soon follow.”

Iran also freed prisoners, Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosrawi, who had all been jailed in Iran on various charges in recent years, according to a report Saturday from Iran’s FARS news agency.

The release comes as part of a prisoner swap for seven Iranians being held by the United States, according to FARS. In addition, FARS said the release also means 14 Iranian nationals wanted by the U.S. would no longer be sought by Interpol.

“Based on an approval of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the general interests of the Islamic Republic, four Iranian prisoners with dual-nationality were freed today within the framework of a prisoner swap deal,” FARS quoted the office of the Tehran prosecutor as saying.

High school friends Brian Stetler, now of Naperville, and Matt Brandseth, who now lives in Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune they are thrilled to hear Rezaian is finally coming home. The three became fast friends while attending Wheaton Central High School, which is now Wheaton-Warrenville South, in the 1990s, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Stetler said he hopes Rezaian will be able to rest and spend some time with his family when he returns home and both his friends said they are hopeful he will get the chance to see the latest Star Wars movie.

“It’s something I know he will love,” Brandseth told the Chicago Tribune.

“He was the biggest fan of Star Wars. I know that’s something he will love to do,” Stetler said.

Rezaian, 39, was detained by Iran in 2014 on charges of espionage and other crimes, according to the Washington Post. He was tried in Iran Revolutionary Court after being charged with unspecified offenses in December 2014 and sentenced to prison for an unknown time. Some of the charges against Rezaian included “collaborating with hostile governments” and “propaganda agains the establishment.”

Both the Washington Post and Rezaian denied the accusations. At the time, Rezaian was the Post’s bureau chief in Tehran.

Rezaian’s friends helped keep attention on Jason by posting regularly to social media while he was in prison in Iran, according to CBS Chicago. The #FreeJason hashtag used to spread news about how many days Rezaian had been in prison in Iran has been swapped out for a #JasonisFree hashtag Sunday.

The announcement of the release comes on the day when the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, announced that Iran has taken all the necessary steps, which included scaling back its nuclear activities, in compliance with the nuclear deal reached in July 2015 with six world powers to start the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Following the certification from the IAEA, President Barack Obama signed executive orders lifting economic sanctions on Iran as part of the international agreement.

Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this article.