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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A U.S. permanent resident held for years in Iran after his conviction on disputed spying charges "will be released in the coming hours," Iranian state television reported Monday.
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese-born internet freedom advocate, is one of a series of prisoners with either dual nationality or links to the West held in Iran. His potential release comes as tensions between Iran and the U.S. remain high after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.
The report Monday on state TV's website mirrored a report earlier carried by the semi-official Fars news agency about Zakka, who was arrested in September 2015 while trying to fly out of Tehran. He had just attended a conference there on the invitation of one of the country's vice presidents.
State TV, like Fars, both quoted an anonymous source saying Zakka's forthcoming release should only be seen as a "sign of respect" for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
"In this regard, no negotiations have taken place at any level with any person or any government," state TV said.
A top Lebanese security official is in Tehran to secure Zakka's release, which has been anticipated in recent days.
In 2016, Iran sentenced Zakka to 10 years in prison. Authorities accused him of being an American spy, allegations vigorously rejected by his family and associates.
Zakka, who lives in Washington and holds resident status in the U.S., leads the Arab ICT Organization, or IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information technology in the region.
In 2016, The Associated Press reported that Zakka's supporters wrote then-Secretary of State John Kerry stating Zakka travelled to Iran "with the knowledge and approval of the U.S. State Department, and his trip was funded by grants" from it.
Zakka's IJMA3 organization had received at least $730,000 in contracts and grants since 2009 from both the State Department and USAID, the lead American government agency fighting poverty and promoting democracy across the world.
The State Department has yet to respond to a years-old request from the AP for information about those grants.
Shahindokht Molaverdi, an adviser to President Hassan Rouhani who as a vice president invited Zakka to Iran, told the AP in September that Iran's government had "failed" to help Zakka.
"This is in no way approved by the government," Molaverdi said. "We did all we could to stop this from happening, but we are seeing that we have failed to make a significant impact."
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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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