Families Tell Lawmakers of Americans Held Hostage in Iran
|
Version 0 of 1. Relatives of three Americans imprisoned in Iran and of a fourth who vanished there eight years ago gave emotional testimony Tuesday to lawmakers in Washington, pressing the Obama administration to do more to free the captives before the June 30 deadline for reaching an international agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program. It was the first time that the relatives of all four Americans — Amir Hekmati, 31, Saeed Abedini, 34, Jason Rezaian, 39, and Robert A. Levinson, 67 — appeared together, in the hearing room of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to publicly share their anguish and frustration over what they described as Iran’s illegal seizure of their loved ones. They said their family members had committed no crimes and were essentially political prisoners and hostages. Those themes have echoed through a history of mistrust between the United States and Iran ever since the countries broke off diplomatic relations more than three decades ago over the Tehran hostage crisis, in which 52 Americans were held for 444 days. While the fates of the three Americans imprisoned now and of the fourth, who is missing, are not part of the nuclear negotiations, lawmakers have increasingly framed these cases as barometers of Iran’s trustworthiness in honoring its international pledges. “If top Iranian officials cannot be counted on to assist these wrongfully jailed Americans, can they be counted on to honor the commitments they make at the negotiating table?” asked Representative Ed Royce, Republican of California and chairman of the committee. Representative Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat who represents Flint, where the Hekmati family lives, and who has introduced a bipartisan resolution demanding the immediate release of all Americans held in Iran, said in remarks to the committee, “Iran cannot hold American prisoners like Amir Hekmati if it wants to be taken seriously by the global community.” Later on Tuesday, the committee approved the resolution. American officials have said they are doing everything possible to free the prisoners and have repeatedly raised the issue with Iran on the sidelines of the nuclear talks. But it is yet another challenge for the Obama administration as it tries to persuade lawmakers suspicious of Iran’s motives. Iran has said that it regards the three imprisoned Americans as Iranian citizens because of their Iranian family backgrounds, making their cases an internal matter. Iranian officials have also said they have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the fourth American, Mr. Levinson, a former F.B.I. agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007. Some of the most poignant testimony was from Mr. Hekmati’s sister, Sarah, who recounted how he had first visited his family’s ancestral homeland in August 2011, having been reassured by Iranian officials that his Marine Corps service was not an issue. He was seized by Iranian intelligence agents, detained without his family’s knowledge, tortured, convicted of espionage and sentenced to death, Ms. Hekmati said. The punishment was reduced to 10 years in prison at a secret trial he did not even know about, she said. “For over three years, our family has been living a nightmare,” she said. Their father, a cancer patient, is steadily weakening but “holds on, hoping to hold Amir in his arms again, but fearful that he will not.” Ms. Hekmati chided the White House and the State Department for what she described as insufficient efforts, asserting, “We know they can do more.” Daniel Levinson, the eldest son of Mr. Levinson, said that the United States had “a moral obligation to help bring him home” and that negotiators must “take a more aggressive approach than merely asking for Iran’s help in locating him.” Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of Mr. Abedini, a pastor sentenced to eight years in prison for holding a Bible study in Iran, said: “This is the time that Saeed needs his country the most. Please do not abandon him.” Ali Rezaian, brother of Mr. Rezaian — a reporter for The Washington Post held since last July, whose closed trial on espionage and other charges began a week ago — expressed thanks for the attention being paid to the prisoners. “I am convinced that our efforts will soon lead to his release,” Mr. Rezaian said, “as well as the release of other Americans who have been unjustly held.” |