# Iran has released reporter Jason Rezaian in prisoner swap.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 16, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330 "2016-01-16T14:51:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/1 "2016-01-16T14:51:52Z")
I can’t find much online yet, but this is great news. Twitter has a few mentions.
[https://twitter.com/search?q=iran+news&ref\_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^search](https://twitter.com/search?q=iran+news&ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Esearch)
John Kerry deserves a lot of praise.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/2 "2016-01-16T15:51:34Z")
Wonderful news! Rezaian struck me as a particularly honest and decent journalist.
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### Author:  [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/3 "2016-01-17T06:31:36Z")
Are these the hostages people were so upset weren’t part of the Iran nuclear deal?
If so, it would appear that once again Obama’s slow, careful diplomacy pays off.
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### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/4 "2016-01-17T11:41:15Z")
The Americans have, in turned, [released some of their Iranian hostages / prisoners](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/17/middleeast/iran-jason-rezaian-prisoners-freed/index.html). Great news all around.
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### Author:  [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/5 "2016-01-17T16:46:11Z")
It is a ghood reminder of the criminal regime in Iran. i wonder how many who hated the Shah now wish they had him back.
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### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/6 "2016-01-17T17:17:05Z")
> [@botsgotme](#):
>
> It is a ghood reminder of the criminal regime in Iran. i wonder how many who hated the Shah now wish they had him back.
Very few, I’d wager. The Iranians have not forgotten about SAVAK.
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### Author:  [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/7 "2016-01-17T18:15:35Z")
> [@botsgotme](#):
>
> It is a ghood reminder of the criminal regime in Iran. i wonder how many who hated the Shah now wish they had him back.
I happened to watch Anthony Bourdain in Iran last night and this guy was shown. The show was a year or two old.
After seeing the people of Iran on this show and how they reacted to Bourdain and his film crew, I wonder how a film crew from Iran traveling around the US would be welcomed. Maybe with a bit of paranoia?
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/8 "2016-01-17T20:14:36Z")
> [@botsgotme](#):
>
> It is a ghood reminder of the criminal regime in Iran. i wonder how many who hated the Shah now wish they had him back.
What **Steken** said. You can find some Iranian royalists floating around, but they are mostly the same folks that supported the Shah before he went down ( they overwhelmingly tend to come from the old upper-class ). But those folks aside, even the Iranians I have met that think the mullahs are actually worse overall wouldn’t swap back. Trading one shitty regime for another is never that appealing.
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### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/9 "2016-01-17T20:38:12Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> What **Steken** said. You can find some Iranian royalists floating around, but they are mostly the same folks that supported the Shah before he went down ( they overwhelmingly tend to come from the old upper-class ). But those folks aside, even the Iranians I have met that think the mullahs are actually worse overall wouldn’t swap back. Trading one shitty regime for another is never that appealing.
Exactly right.
Scratch the surface a bit and you’ll find a great deal of nostalgia for Mosaddegh. For the Shah, though, not so much. Except, as you say, among the remnants of the old elite.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/10 "2016-01-18T11:51:47Z")
What I love is watching Obama’s opposition’s blustering and whining that this happened through diplomacy and careful negotiations, and not through a real-life Michael Bay movie. And, of course, The Donald insisting that he had something to do with it.
If John Kerry doesn’t get a Nobel out of this, there is no justice in this world.
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### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-has-released-reporter-jason-rezaian-in-prisoner-swap/743330/11 "2016-01-18T11:53:55Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> If John Kerry doesn’t get a Nobel out of this, there is no justice in this world.
… And Mr. Zarif, surely, plus the rest of the P5+1.