Rubio To Kerry: Iran Deal Is Unacceptable Without Securing The Freedom Of Americans Jailed In Iran

Press Release

Following the announcement of a nuclear deal with Iran, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, urged Secretary of State John Kerry to prioritize the unconditional release of three American citizens currently imprisoned unjustly in Iran and information regarding the fate of missing former FBI agent Robert Levinson.

"I write to you to express my deep concern that American citizens remain unjustly imprisoned by the Iranian regime even as you have finalized a nuclear deal with Iran," wrote Rubio. "It is unacceptable that the United States has reached a final agreement with Iran while innocent Americans languish in the most brutal conditions of Iranian jail cells. I am profoundly disappointed that the agreement with Iran did not ensure the unconditional release of American citizens: Jason Rezaian, Pastor Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati, as well as any progress in obtaining information about the fate of my constituent former FBI agent Robert Levinson.

"I am disturbed by how the administration has missed an opportunity to make the freedom of these Americans a priority in your negotiations with Iran," Rubio continued. "Despite your claims that these negotiations were only about Iran's nuclear program, Iran successfully obtained non-nuclear concessions from these negotiations that will aid its efforts to sow terror and instability throughout the Middle East. These American citizens deserve to be released unconditionally, and I urge you to use every tool at your disposal to secure their freedom."

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