Washington (CNN) -- Iran has freed an Iranian-American detained for more than two years, his lawyer said Saturday.
Reza Taghavi, a retired businessman from Orange County, California, was released at 4 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET) on Saturday, after being held in Iran's notorious Evin prison since his arrest in May 2008 on suspicion of supporting an anti-regime group, the lawyer said.
Los Angeles-based attorney Pierre-Richard Prosper said Taghavi has been reunited with his family and is hoping to return to the United States next week.
"It's obviously a happy day, a great day for the Taghavi family," Prosper said by phone from Tehran.
A report on Iran's state-run Press TV showed Taghavi alternately smiling and weeping after his release.
Prosper has been negotiating Taghavi's release since September 2009.
CNN
