Rep. Dan Kildee with Amir Hekmati’s family in Germany

Amir Hekmati will get to see his Michigan family members for the first time more than four years. He will meet with relatives and Congressman Dan Kildee at a U.S. base in Germany. His release was part of a deal involving five Americans and the lifting of sanctions on Iran as part of a nuclear accord. Hekmati was detained back in August  of 2011 on espionage charges. His family released this statement upon hearing of  the release:

“Today, our brother, son and friend Amir Hekmati has been released from Iran. We have now been officially told that he is on a plane leaving the country. It is hard to put into words what our family feels right now. But we remain in hopeful anticipation until Amir is in our arms. As many of you know, Amir’s father is very ill and soon he will embrace his son once more. We are incredibly grateful for today’s news. We thank our government, and we thank all of you whose thoughts and prayers helped us tremendously since Amir was taken from us in 2011.”