The 29-year-old Hekmati's sister, Sarah Hekmati, was in Washington, D.C., this week meeting with Livia Leu Agosti, the Swiss ambassador to Tehran. The Swiss represent U.S. interests in Iran, a country the United States has not had diplomatic relations with since 1980.
The Swiss ambassador indicated that Iranian officials seem interested in revisiting Hekmati's case, Sarah Hekmati said Thursday, May 16.
"She felt like the fact that he went from a death sentence to now an open-ended case was good news," Sarah Hekmati said.
Hekmati, a former Marine, has been incarcerated since 2011 under suspicion of being an American spy. He was sentenced to death, but an appellate court overturned his original death sentence because of insufficient evidence. The family hoped then that he would be released soon.
Instead, Hekmati sat for more than a year in solitary confinement at Tehran's Evin Prison, considered among the world's most brutal prisons.
He was in the midst of a two-week visit to Tehran to see his grandmother in August 2011, when he was taken into custody. Iranian officials claimed Amir Hekmati was acting as a spy for the CIA. The Hekmati family and U.S. officials deny the allegation.
In another positive sign for the family, prison conditions have recently improvedfor Hekmati and he has been able to send letters home and receive monthly visits from an uncle in Tehran. Sarah Hekmati said he recently has been moved to another part of the prison where conditions are better and he is able to interact with other prisoners.
While meeting with the Swiss ambassador, Sarah Hekmati said she was able to give her some letters and books to "hopefully" have delivered to her brother.
"We want to remain hopeful and positive," Sarah Hekmati said.
Blake Thorne is a reporter for MLive-The Flint Journal. Contact him at bthorne1@mlive.com or 810-347-8194. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.