Rezaian Thanks Swiss Foreign Ministry Air Force
GORANI: "Washington Post" reporter, Jason Rezaian, made his first public appearance since he was freed from Iran last weekend. Listen.</s>JASON REZAIAN: Glad to be out.</s>GORANI: Joined by his family, Rezaian mostly kept quiet and he waved to journalists outside Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany. He was asked for privacy during his recovery. In a written statement, Rezaian says, "For now, I want to catch up with what's been going on in the world, watch a Warriors game or two, and see the "Star Wars" movie." He also mentioned he wants to spend time with his family, perfectly understandable. Rezaian is one of four Americans freed by Iran as part of a prisoner swap. One thing you may not know is that Switzerland was deeply involved in the deal to release the Americans. In fact we're happy to be joined by the Swiss secretary of foreign affairs, Yves Rossier. He is at the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland. Minister, thanks for being with us. First of all, explain to us how Switzerland facilitated the secret discussions between the U.S. and Iran that eventually led to the release of these prisoners?</s>YVES ROSSIER, SWISS SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Well, if I would tell you the whole story, it might be a bit long. I think it's been 14 months of heavy work. Above all of course the political courage of people on both to bridge the gap that had been separating those two countries. What we did is what we usually do because first we are no real own agenda in the region. We are not a colonial power and above all we have been act as predicting power for U.S. interest in Iran for decades. So that allowed us to build a relation of trust between both sides, which was a big held between the long and tedious discussions.</s>GORANI: And concretely, what was Switzerland providing? I mean, I know you represent U.S. diplomatic interests in Iran and have done so since 1980. But concretely, were you providing communication? I mean, were you sometimes the go-between? Did you provide locations? How did it work?</s>ROSSIER: It's basically all that, all that together. I mean, there have been numerous meetings. There have been moments where there was a blockade, a big obstacle, and I think this relation of trust I mentioned before allowed us to go back and forth between the parties. But again, the political will was there and I think that's what made the deal possible. Then there was still lots of obstacles to overcome that it is definitely the result of the work of both. And as for our role -- sorry?</s>GORANI: Go ahead.</s>ROSSIER: No, please go ahead. Our role --</s>GORANI: I'm going to stop talking and let you finish that sentence. There is a bit of a delay.</s>ROSSIER: As for our role, we, Swiss, we are supposedly not very bright but trustworthy, independent, and above all very discreet. And we have been doing this kind of exercise for decades. It is an old tradition of my country and it goes along with our humanitarian tradition and administration is of course one of the main reason why we sometimes are being called in to help along those kind of process.</s>GORANI: So because you're saying there were obstacles. It was more than obstacles. There was a time when the discussions broke down. Was there ever a moment where you thought, as a Swiss secretary for foreign affairs, you thought OK, this is not going to work. This is not going to -- it's just broken down and what did you then end up doing at that point?</s>ROSSIER: Again, the main work has been done by the parties themselves, but this feeling now it is not going to work that happened probably a few dozen times, yes.</s>GORANI: So you did, at some --</s>ROSSIER: We never have to give up.</s>GORANI: And you did not give up.</s>ROSSIER: Above all, the delegations, two parties never gave up and that is what led to a successful outcome. But put it in the global picture, there were many things going on. The discussion in Vienna, the result of implementation day, the sentiment of any claims between both countries. So I mean, this was part of a bigger picture. It was very important for the people concerned and that was probably what our main motivation. It's people recovering freedom on both sides. But it's part of a global picture that was far beyond an exchange of prisoners as you obviously know.</s>GORANI: Right. And there was a Swiss representative, wasn't there, on the plane bringing the prisoners back in the first stop was actually in Switzerland. Was it this a Foreign Ministry representative? What was the role of that individual, the representative of Switzerland?</s>ROSSIER: I mean, there were Swiss people on the plane. It was a Swiss plane who got the people in Tehran and who flew them back to Switzerland. Our ambassador was involved. Our ambassador in Tehran, obviously. And we were a group in Geneva because the biggest part of negotiations took place in Geneva over 14 months. I was in Geneva and when I boarded the plane to greet the three Americans and the family of Jason Rezaian, it was a very, very good moment. Yes.</s>GORANI: Can I ask you then on a personal level, when you boarded the plane, because you boarded the plane in Switzerland and you met face-to- face with these American prisoners. Presumably the first time you've met with them. What was it like?</s>ROSSIER: I was -- I think my first impression was that the atmosphere on the plane was extremely friendly. There were good vibes on that plane. I think that was my impression. I didn't feel any tension. But frankly you should ask the people concerned because they went through difficult times during the years and I was expecting probably when I boarded, I was expecting more tension. But it was not the case and it was a good feeling.</s>GORANI: That's good. That's freedom for them. I understand there was even champagne and Swiss chocolates. On a more serious note, Switzerland has lifted its sanctions against Iran as a result of this nuclear deal having gone through with Iran respecting its end of the bargain. What concretely does that mean for Iranian businesses or any Iranians operating in Switzerland?</s>ROSSIER: Well, Switzerland had always a different approach on sanctions as we usually do. So Switzerland didn't take all the sanctions due to our position as a protecting power. But, well, due to our tradition, we did not apply the sanctions and the sanctions having an impact on the whole population. And probably as well the somewhat different attitude of Switzerland as far as sanctions were concerned was probably one of the reasons that gave us the possibility to help along this operation.</s>GORANI: All right, Yves Rossier, the secretary --</s>ROSSIER: Sorry.</s>GORANI: We have a long satellite delay. Go ahead and finish your thought please.</s>ROSSIER: But as far as our position now, Switzerland's all remaining sanctions have been lifted like the other European countries. So there will probably be a comeback to normality and that will definitely take more time than many people think because the Iranian economy has been delayed from the rest of the world for decades. So it will not be something that will be done overnight. That will take months. Definitely take months until some sort of normality is back. And I mean, I think the negotiations that started in Geneva on Monday about Syria would be definitely as this operation has been for the future of the region.</s>GORANI: All right, Yves Rossier, in Davos, the secretary of foreign affairs for Switzerland. Thank you very much for joining us sharing some of the stories. Perhaps the lesser-known stories of this Iran deal that led to the release of these Americans. Coming up, asylum seekers in one English town say their homes have become targets for vandalism and abuse. And they say the company that built the homes may have deliberately made sure to make them stand out. We'll be right back.