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Why Are American Hostages Still Held in Iran?

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  • Why Are American Hostages Still Held in Iran?

    Commentary Magazine
    March 1 2015

    Why Are American Hostages Still Held in Iran?

    Michael Rubin


    Since President Obama initiated high-profile, high-stakes talks with
    Iran, the United States has released more than $11 billion in frozen
    funds to the Islamic Republic, and that comes on top of billions of
    dollars in new investment. To put just the $11 billion in perspective,
    that represents more than twice the Congressional Research
    Service-estimated official budget of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
    Corps (IRGC), the group responsible for killing hundreds of American
    servicemen in Iraq. Now, consider that Iran's economy had shrunk
    between 5.3 and 5.8 percent (depending upon which Iranian figure is
    speaking) in the year before Obama began his outreach while, despite
    the crash in oil prices, Iran's current growth is positive, and it's
    hard not to conclude that for the Iranian leadership, Team Obama has
    been a dream come true.

    Given all that Iran has gained outside of the nuclear arena, what is
    most perplexing is how little the United States has received. Take for
    example the four American hostages which Iran now holds:

    Saeed Abedini. Iran has long been hostile to Christianity. While the
    Iranian city of Isfahan hosts a large Armenian community which thrives
    today, the Armenian Christians settled in Isfahan only because they
    were forcibly relocated there from northwestern Iran as the shah at
    the time doubted their loyalty. Non-Orthodox Christians have special
    difficulty in Iran. Past State Department human-rights reports, for
    example, depict the disappearance and murder of priests and,
    especially, evangelical Christians whose community is small but
    growing in Iran. Abedini, a 34-year-old from Idaho, was arrested
    during a 2012 trip to Tehran to visit family and sentenced to eight
    years in prison. He is a married father of two small children.

    Robert Levinson. A former FBI agent whom Iran alleges to have worked
    for a CIA contractor visited Kish Island, an Iranian free-trade zone
    which is visa-free, in an effort to research a cigarette smuggling
    case when he was seized by Iranian intelligence in 2007. While the
    Iranians have sought at times to deny responsibility or knowledge of
    Levinson's case, the state-run Iranian press acknowledged Iranian
    involvement. He remains the longest-held Iranian hostage. Perhaps
    reflecting its role as the -de facto lobby of the Islamic Republic,
    the National Iranian American Council has distinguished itself by
    omitting Levinson in its calls for the release of hostages.

    Amir Hekmati. A former American Marine, Hekmati was arrested in August
    2011 while visiting family in Tehran. Charged with espionage, he was
    initially sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted. While some
    Iranians might look askance at his military service, it should be
    remembered that because Iran has conscription, many male Iranian
    graduate students seeking to come to the United States to continue
    their education or to visit family have served in the Iranian
    military. The charges were more ridiculous considering Hekmati sought
    and received permission from Iranian authorities in the United States
    before traveling. Hekmati had briefly launched a hunger strike which
    he subsequently suspended.

    Jason Rezaian. The Washington Post's Tehran bureau chief, Rezaian was
    arrested on undisclosed security-related offenses on July 22, 2014,
    and initially held incommunicado. On January 15, 2015, an Iranian
    prosecutor announced that Rezaian would stand trial in a revolutionary
    court. His case is slated to be heard by one of Iran's most notorious
    hanging judges.

    That three of the four men are Iranian American should be irrelevant.
    Immigrants and their children do not check their citizenship at the
    door when they visit Iran, even if Iranian authorities insist they
    enter only on their Iranian documents. Ronald Reagan famously obsessed
    over American hostages held by Iranian proxies in Lebanon. The "Tower
    Commission" found that Reagan obsessively peppered his staff with
    questions about their condition and the possibilities for their
    release. Never has the contrast between two presidents been so great.
    Obama seems more concerned with springing terrorists from Guantanamo
    Bay than in freeing Americans held captive by one of the world's most
    repressive regimes. And, while Secretary of State John Kerry has
    reportedly condemned the Iranian detention of American citizens and
    called for their release, Obama and Kerry's willingness to continue
    business as usual in negotiations and in payments to Iran suggests to
    the Iranians a lack of seriousness on the Obama administration's part.

    There should not be a single press conference dealing with Iran where
    the first, second, and third questions don't force administration
    officials to address those Americans in prison in Iran. The hostages
    should be household names. When the State Department counsels quiet
    diplomacy, what diplomats are seeking is enough distraction to sweep
    the problem under the rug. They should not be able to. Indeed, there
    should not be another meeting held, let alone incentive given or
    payment made, until they are happily at home and reunited with their
    families. Quite the contrary, there should be no end to sanctions and
    punishment until the Americans--all four--come home.


    https://www.commentarymagazine.com/2015/03/01/why-are-american-hostages-still-held-in-iran/


    From: Baghdasarian
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