Imprisoned Iranian-American pastor gets push from State Dept.

[MADem]

3. Iran will probably let him go, eventually, when their asking price is met.

I don't think they're afraid of international trouble at all, though. He's worth money that will be put to good use by a cash-poor and sanctioned government.

If I were a betting person, I'd say the "starting bid" for his "bail" is a million, simply because of this guy's high profile. It could very well be much higher. Part of State's job will be to try to knock down the price and find someone to act as the "payer" so our hands stay clean. If individuals raise the money, that's not an issue, but the US government will never pony up the dough.

I remember that one of our allies in the region (Oman, maybe?) coughed up the cash for at least two of those hikers that Iran kidnapped for ransom (that is what they did, despite their bogus sovereignty assertions), but it was probably more like a cash-kiting scheme (we sell them military equipment or construction/farming stuff worth more at a deep discount, they take the money saved and apply it to the ransom), so that we could maintain that we didn't pay ransom for hostages.