Salmon, Idaho. President Barack Obama should have secured the release of jailed USA citizens before sealing a nuclear deal with Iran, and the accord should not win congressional approval until their freedom is guaranteed, the wife of a detained Iranian-American pastor said on Wednesday. “Makes it much more hard for us to walk away if Iran somehow thinks that a nuclear deal is dependent in some fashion on the nuclear deal”, Obama continued.
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But Rubio pointed to non-nuclear parts of the deal, which include the ability to lift the arms embargo for conventional weapons after five years, saying that Iran got “non-nuclear concessions… that will aid its efforts to sow terror and instability throughout the Middle East”. Hekmati has been held prisoner since 2011 when he was arrested under suspicion of being a spy. Her husband, Saeed, is a Christian pastor whose imprisonment in Iran amounts to religious persecution in the Islamic country, supporters say. Hekmati’s family has insisted he was in Iran to visit family when he was arrested in 2011.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., said Monday’s agreement was “no “opportunity to move in a new direction”” for the four Americans and lamented the language used to ask for their release. While he has always been working toward their release he doesn’t want it to come at the cost of the United States giving into Iran’s demands.
“This August will mark four years that Amir has languished behind the walls of Evin prison”.
The law group-which represents Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh, and two children back in the US-said Abedini was able to relay this information through his father who recently visited him in prison. “With the announcement of a deal and yet silence as to the fate of Saeed and the other Americans held hostage in Iran, their fate lies now in the hands of Congress. I plead with each member of Congress to review the deal with our family at the forefront of their thoughts”.
“It’s important… that we consider the content of the agreement in the context of all Iran’s behavior, and that includes, of course, Iran as it continues to hold innocent Americans in prison”, Kildee told reporters Tuesday morning.
The House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution on June 15 asking that Hekmati, Abedini and Rezaian be released.
“He’s there because of his Christian faith and that’s been the faith that gives me and my family strength through this time and given Saeed the strength to continue”.
Among the others, notably, is Jason Rezaian, who serves as the Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post and is being held on false espionage charges, according to his brother, Ali.
“We are hopeful that with agreement now in place the Iranian courts will conclude this process swiftly and affirm Jason’s innocence so we can bring him home and make our family whole once again”. He might have a lung infection, and his family worries that if Hekmati is not treated, he could contract tuberculosis.
Former FBI agent Levinson went missing off the coast of Iran eight years ago while working as a private investigator. The officials also said the United States is doing everything it can to ensure their release. He was last seen in a video the family received in November 2010 and that was made public a year later.
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Abedini’s father told ACLJ that Abedini felt threatened inside his cell as other inmates had been expressing anti-American sentiments after learning about the nuclear deal.
