Iranian American Pastor Saeed Abedini was released from an Iranian prison after being held for over three years, and is now undergoing medical examination in Germany at a US military camp, according to media reports.
Pastor Abedini is a convert from Islam to Christianity and had refused to recant his Christian faith, and was imprisoned on charges of undermining national security through private religious gatherings in house churches since the early 2000s.
Since his imprisonment, millions of people signed an online petition to secure release of the Pastor.
"This has been an answer to prayer," said the pastor's wife Naghmeh Abedini of his release. "This is a critical time for me and my family. We look forward to Saeed's return and want to thank the millions of people who have stood with us in prayer during this most difficult time."
Naghmeh further described the reaction when she broke the news to her children that their father was finally coming home.
"They were just excited. They couldn't believe it," she said.
His detention in the Iranian prison shed limelight on the state of persecuted Christians in the Middle East, and around the world.
Evangelical activists had been rallying international and political support for his release, and tried to make it a part of nuclear deal with Iran. As the deal was signed, the Obama administration loosened some $100 billion of economic sanctions against Iran, and seven US prisoners were released in exchange for four Americans held in the Iranian prisons.
President Obama welcomed the homecoming of the Americans from the Iranian jails, and said that this was a consequence of years of negotiations to release the prisoners.
"Several Americans unjustly detained by Iran are finally coming home," he stated. "In some cases these Americans faced years of continued detention. And I've met with some of their families. I've seen their anguish, how they ache for their sons and husbands."
"I gave these families my word - I made a vow - that we would do everything in our power to win the release of their loved ones. And we have been tireless," the president said, adding that the families "finally got the news that they were waiting for."
