U.S. hopes U.S. citizen's release means more progress possible with Iran

The United States is hopeful that the release of U.S. citizen Xiyue Wang by Iran will lead to the freeing of other Americans held there and is a sign Tehran is willing to come to the table to talk about other issues, a senior U.S. administration official said on Saturday.

"We're hopeful this will lead us to further success with Iran," the official told reporters in a conference call, adding that Wang appeared to be in good health and humor.

"This should be viewed as a hopeful sign by the other families," he said. "I'm hopeful that the release of Mr. Wang is a sign that the Iranians are realizing that the practice of hostage-taking diplomacy really should come to an end if Iran wants to rejoin the international community."