(CNN) -- Reza Taghavi, an Iranian-American detained for more than two years in Iran, is expected to return to the United States Thursday evening.
The retired businessman from Orange County, California, was released Saturday. He had been held in Iran's notorious Evin prison since May 2008 on suspicion of supporting an anti-regime group.
Taghavi and his lawyer, Pierre-Richard Prosper, are scheduled to hold a news conference at 7:30 p.m. ET after his arrival at the Los Angeles International Airport.
Prosper had been negotiating Taghavi's release since September 2009.
Saturday's release was the product of three trips to Iran, meetings with Iranian officials in New York and Europe, and close to 300 e-mails with Iranian officials, he said.
Taghavi, 71, traveled frequently to Iran to visit family and friends without incident, according to Prosper.
In April 2008, Taghavi went to Tehran with his wife. Before he left, he was asked by an acquaintance in Los Angeles named Imran Afar to take $200 for a friend in Tehran "who was down on his luck," Prosper said.
Los Angeles has a large Persian community.
CNN
