Leader urges ‘quicker’ steps on detainee releases

NEW YORK — Iran’s president on Friday urged “quicker” efforts to free citizens held in both Iran and the United States, offering potential new signals on the fate of a Washington Post journalist and other Americans in Iranian hands.

The comments by Hassan Rouhani, who is in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly, followed earlier suggestions from Iranian officials about the prospect of prisoner exchanges.

Rouhani told journalists he “doesn’t want to talk about the word ‘exchange’ ” but said he could explore channels to “move the legal files forward” in Iran with an aim for the joint release of those detained in both countries.

“It is important to me to find a way, if there is a way, to set them free quicker,” Rouhani said. “I wish to set as many people free as possible.”

While Rouhani has limited sway over Iran’s judiciary — which is controlled by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — he said he could use unspecified leverage such as “suggestions and various legal actions.”

The Post’s Tehran correspondent, Jason Rezaian, has been detained since July 2014 and was tried this year on charges including espionage. He is awaiting a verdict from Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.

The other detained Americans include: Amir Hekmati, an Iranian American and Marine veteran given a 10-year sentence after a closed trial on charges of “cooperating with hostile governments; Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-born Christian pastor imprisoned since 2012 on charges of starting churches in private homes; and Robert Levinson, who has been missing amid suspicions that Iran knows his whereabouts.

Rezaian, 39, who has dual Iranian American citizenship, has strongly denied the charges against him. His case has drawn appeals for his release by senior U.S. officials and media freedom groups. Rezaian, who previously wrote for The Chronicle, was born in San Francisco and grew up in San Rafael.

Earlier this month, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, told NPR that there were “practical ways” to deal with Americans imprisoned in Iran.

“For example, there is a number of Iranians in prison here (in the United States). Definitely for matters of this sort, one can come up with solutions,” he said. “I think your politicians know about those ways.”

Iranian officials have called for freeing 19 Iranian citizens jailed in the United States on what Iran claims are unfounded charges of violating sanctions. Rumors have periodically floated that Iran wants to swap them for Rezaian, but Iranian authorities have denied it.

In New York, Rouhani said a nuclear deal reached in July with the United States and other world powers has helped offer room for greater dialogue between Tehran and Washington.

“The situation has certainly changed,” Rouhani said, according to Reuters.