Japanese national returns home after monthslong detention in Iran

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TOKYO (AP) — Japan's top government spokesperson said Monday that one of two Japanese nationals detained in Iran has safely returned home in good health.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara's confirmation came one day after Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced the person's release.

Motegi, speaking on a Fuji Television talk show Sunday, said the person had been detained since last year and was released on Wednesday. He said the person took a flight from Azerbaijan.

Kihara, at a regular news conference Monday, confirmed that the former detainee returned to Japan on Sunday in good health.

Kihara said another Japanese national who was arrested earlier this year is still in custody but “we have confirmed that there is no problem with the safety and health" of the person and that Japan is continuing to press Iran for a release as soon as possible.

Motegi said the release came after his repeated demands to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and that he is “working to win an early release” of the other detainee while communicating with his family and other concerned parties.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has named the person detained in Iran in January as a journalist at Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. The CPJ said the NHK journalist was arrested Jan. 20 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was transferred Feb. 23 to Evin Prison, quoting unidentified sources citing fear of persecution.

Motegi did not identify either of the people detained but said the released Japanese national was detained in 2025.

The Foreign Ministry said earlier this month the detainees were safe and in good health, but only acknowledged that one was detained last year and the other one in January.

The ministry has given no further details and did not say whether the two cases were related.