Thread by @jrezaian

January 17 is an important day for me. 6 years ago today I was freed, after being held hostage in Iran for 544 days. I was taken from prison, boarded a flight leaving Tehran and reunited with my family. It was a day of celebration and relief.

My hostage ordeal has a happy ending, in large part because I had the benefit of a supportive family, employer and a large community of caring colleagues of friends, some of them very influential, all invested in my well being.

My circumstances & support structure were as much as anyone could hope for coming out of such a traumatic experience. And yet recovery & reintegration were — and some days continue to be — grueling. I wasn’t prepared for the challenges of freedom after being locked up. No one is.

After many months of struggle that included nightmares, memory loss, problems concentrating and terrible headaches, I was finally able to do everyday tasks. Make appointments and show up to them. Socialize, sometimes. Sleep. A little.

When I felt more functional and was ready to return to work I turned much of my attention to telling the stories of other innocent people still held by the government of Iran and other states. No family should be subjected to this extreme abuse of power.

I have interviewed, advocated for, celebrated, commiserated with many people who have dedicated themselves to the bringing hostages home, making dear friends in the process.

But my biggest afinity is with the families of current hostages and the friends who have returned and joined a club none of us would have chosen: the community of former hostages.

The best days in the last 6 years were the ones when new friends joined the freedom club: @KMooreGilbert @FreeNizarZakka
@XiyueWang9 @samrgoodwin @DannyFenster and others.

But we impatiently await new members: @FreeAustinTice @FreeNazanin @FreeTheNamazis @FreeAnoosheh #FreeMorad, #FreeNahid, #FreeFariba @freetrevorreed @freepaulwhelan and too many others.

Another hostage who I have written about and whose case hits particularly close to home is fellow Washington DC resident Emad Shargi. To see the struggles of other families going through an ordeal similar to my own is difficult. But it only strengthens my commitment to the issue.

I’ve written about many of these hostages in @PostOpinions and it’s a credit to my editors that they support this most critical type of storytelling. I believe that knowing people’s names, their faces and why they are loved makes it harder to forget about them.

Telling their stories is one thing. But explaining the rise of the state hostage taking phenomenon & why it should matter to everyone something that my incredibly skilled & committed @PostOpinions colleague @kwoodsome has invested enormous effort into for over a year.

She now knows this issue as well as anyone. I’m grateful for her believing in its importance. Her dedication has led to the most substantive reporting on state hostage taking to date. If you haven’t seen this report, please read it. #BringThemHome washingtonpost.com/opinions/inter…