Lebanese national and US green card holder Nizar Zakka arrived in Tehran upon invitation from Iran's Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs to attend an entrepreneurship conference in 2015. The information technology expert and businessman was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on accusations of "collaborating with the United States government." Nearly a year later, he was found guilty of espionage and handed a 10-year jail term.

Recent speculation about his impending release ultimately proved true and Iran's judiciary ordered Zakka to be "conditionally released" June 11. Under Iran's penal code, a conditional release may be granted after the convict has served a third of a jail term of 10 years or less and is found by the judge to have demonstrated "good demeanor" during imprisonment.

According to a judiciary spokesman, the release had been requested by Zakka and the Lebanese president. Earlier, there were reports that President Michel Aoun had received promises from his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani to secure Zakka's freedom. Aoun told the Lebanese press that he had tasked Lebanon’s top security official, Abbas Ibrahim, with following up on the request. Ibrahim's office in Beirut posted a photo dated June 10, saying the release process was near completion. A day later, the security official was shown alongside Zakka on board a Lebanon-bound plane.

The news contradicted reports by some Iranian sources that claimed Zakka would only be handed over to Hezbollah officials. Iran's state media had been quoting "an informed source" within the judiciary as saying that the release had been secured via mediation by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, news that was later contradicted by other outlets.