Marco Rubio Urges John Kerry to Include Jailed Americans as Part of Iran Deal

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. who sits on both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday, urging that any deal with Iran include the release of American citizens held by the Iranian regime. 

“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.”