White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy

FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo
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White House Withdraws Nomination for US Hostage Envoy

FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo/File Photo

The Trump administration has withdrawn the nomination of Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, the White House said on Saturday.
Boehler, who has been working to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, will continue hostage-related work as a so-called "special government employee," a position that would not need Senate confirmation.
"Adam Boehler will continue to serve President Trump as a special government employee focused on hostage negotiations," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
"Adam played a critical role in negotiating the return of Marc Fogel from Russia. He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals around the world home."
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Boehler withdrew his nomination to avoid divesting from his investment company. The move was unrelated to the controversy sparked by his discussions with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"He still has the utmost confidence of President Trump," said the official.
"This gives me the best ability to help Americans held abroad as well as work across agencies to achieve President Trump’s objectives," Boehler told Reuters in a brief statement.
Boehler recently held direct meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza. The discussions broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US brands as terrorist organizations.
The talks angered some Senate Republicans and some Israeli leaders. According to Axios, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer expressed his displeasure to Boehler in a tense phone call last week.



Iran Opposition Leader Karroubi to be Freed from House Arrest, His Son Says

Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
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Iran Opposition Leader Karroubi to be Freed from House Arrest, His Son Says

Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo

Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi will be released from house arrest on Monday, state media reported, 14 years after he was detained for calling for a rally in support of protests that swept the Arab world in 2011.

"My father was told by security agents that his house arrest will end today," his son Hossein Karroubi told state news agency IRNA, adding that security agents would remain at the premises until April 8 due to security concerns.

The 87-year-old, ailing mid-level cleric has remained defiant, questioning the legitimacy of the clerical establishment in statements published by pro-reform websites.

After calling for a rally in solidarity with pro-democracy uprisings, Karroubi - along with ex-prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, a prominent academic - were put under house arrest in February 2011.

They have not been put on trial or publicly charged, Reuters reported.

Former parliament speaker Karroubi and Mousavi ran for election in 2009 and became figureheads for Iranians who staged eight months of mass protests after a vote they believed was rigged to bring back hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Karroubi's son Hossein told pro-reform Jamaran news website that his father demanded the release of Mousavi.

"They told my father that the same process ... would be carried out for Mousavi within the next few months and Mousavi too would be released," the Jamaran website quoted him as saying.

Iran's judiciary made no comment.

Karroubi, like Mousavi and Rahnavard, had been under round-the-clock surveillance by security guards initially living in his home. But conditions improved in past years for Karroubi, with some family and politicians allowed to visit him.

Suffering from various medical complications, Karroubi has been taken to hospital several times for heart surgery and treatment.

During his election campaign, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian promised to make an effort for their release.