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In exchange for Wang's release, Professor Massoud Soleimani, who was arrested at a Chicago airport last year and charged with violating trade sanctions against Iran, was headed home, too.

\"PHOTO:
IRANIAN FOREGIN MINISTRY HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX
PHOTO: A handout photo made available by Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's twitter account on December 7, 2019 shows Zarif (L) greeting Iranian researcher Masoud Soleimani at an undisclosed airport in Switzerland.
>

A stem cell researcher who had been working in Minnesota, Soleimani was charged after he was reportedly seeking to transfer biological material back to Iran without a license.

His lawyers argued that he was innocent, saying the sanctions law was ambiguous.

Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, was there to greet him at the airport; he flew with Wang from Tehran to Switzerland.

In a tweet, Zarif said: “Glad that Professor Massoud Soleimani and Mr. Xiyue Wang will be joining their families shortly. Many thanks to all engaged, particularly the Swiss Government.”

Going home pic.twitter.com/HZHPDc20aj

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 7, 2019

ABC News' Elizabeth Thomas contributed to this report.

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