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No Deal with Iran until Prisoners are Set Free

By the end of this week, congress will let us know whether or not the American citizens locked away in Iran are on their priority list or not. Sadly, with the earthquake in Nepal, the protests in Baltimore, and gay marriage debates in the supreme court dominating the headlines, this has not received the media attention that it deserves. If Americans don’t speak up on behalf of those imprisoned in Iran before the nuclear deal talks progress further, then this window of opportunity will close and we can expect these people to remain in chains.

Now that the white house has a framework for a nuclear non-proliferation deal with Iran, the senate is debating over a bill that outlines the role they will play in deciding the final fate of the deal. The bill, known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, is fairly simple. It will give congress the power to disapprove of the deal with Iran after the white house finalizes it if they’re unhappy with the final draft. As it stands currently the bill is not controversial. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 19-0 last week to send it to the senate floor.

The important issue is in the possible amendments to the bill. One of the proposed amendments, if passed, would require that Iran return the five American prisoners they are holding before congress would consider the deal. This is absolutely necessary. It’s a condition that the white house should have adopted from the beginning. For some reason, many senators don’t find this to be an important part of the deal. They’re willing to lift the US’s crippling sanctions on Iran while they hold innocent US citizens behind bars.

It is incredible that American legislators can go about making concessions without any consideration for the people they represent. How could innocent people being held captive possibly fall that far down the priority list? These people have been captive in Iran for between 8 months and 8 years, while the US passively “advocates” for their release. If this deal passes by without mention of these prisoners, then there is little hope of those prisoners seeing their families again. It’s very easy to look at them as “just five individuals” by placing them in some distant category in the mind, far removed from the concerns of the personal life and the lives of loved ones. But these are human beings we’re talking about. People with their own loved ones, with hopes and dreams and desires of their own.  Their situation is inconvenient, but they are suffering unjustly and their country needs to do everything in its power to get them back.

Just to drive this point home, let’s meet our prisoners...

Amir Hekmati was a sergeant in the US Marine Corps from 2001 to 2005, during that time he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He retired from the military in 2005 as a sergeant and went on to work as a translator until he traveled to Iran in 2011 to visit his ailing grandmother. Two weeks after his arrival he was arrested while visiting a relative’s home. Initially, he was forced to confess and sentenced to death. That sentence was overturned due to a lack of evidence and he was later charged with cooperating and collaborating with the U.S. government. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in prison in a secret, closed-door proceeding. Neither Amir nor his attorney were made aware that the trial was taking place and he was never able to defend himself in court. His mother, father, siblings, and other family members are advocating for his release after nearly four years behind bars at freeamir.org.

Jason Rezaian is an Iranian-American journalist. He was the Washington Post bureau chief in Tehran, Iran’s capital, until July 2014 when he was thrown in an Iranian prison for alleged espionage. Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron says of the issue, “There has been no evidence provided by the Iranian government that he engaged in espionage or did anything other than report on what was happening in that country. In fact, most of his coverage focused on the culture and daily life of people in Iran.” Jason has been locked up for 9 months.

Pastor Saeed Abedini is a husband and father of two who went to Iran to help in the construction of an orphanage in the city of Rasht, Iraq.  Saeed’s story is too long and painful to tell here in its entirety, but he was imprisoned for being an outspoken Christian, despite the fact that the Christian churches in Iran are supposed to be protected as legal religious minority communities. He has been imprisoned since July 2012. In the course of that nearly three-year timespan he has tortured, beaten, and denied medical care. Because he is a Christian, and is unwilling to convert, he faces constant mocking, insults, and death threats from the other prisoners. There is a petition on beheardproject.com/saeed with over 185,000 signatures advocating that no deal should be made with Iran until he is freed.

Lastly, there is the very complicated case of the FBI agent Robert Levinson who went missing in Iran and has now been missing for over eight years. He is believed to still be in Iran based on some proof of life photos received in 2013.

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I don’t mean to make an appeal to pity, but rather an appeal to the sanctity of human life. These people matter. In many cases they’ve been beaten, tortured, placed in solitary confinement, refused medical services, held without evidence, and even held without charges!

In congress, the main argument against the amendment is a desire to keep the bill bipartisan and congress is afraid that President Obama will veto the bill if it’s heavily amended. That may have been the case with other amendments, such as the one voted down yesterday that would have required Iran to recognize Israel, but it’s unlikely that Obama will veto the bill based on this amendment. He has already promised that he will do everything in his power to bring the prisoners home. He has promised Saeed’s family that the Pastor’s freedom is a “top priority” and has even visited their home in Boise, Idaho. He spoke with Jason Rezaian’s brother, Ali, and “told him personally that I will not rest until we bring him home to his family, safe and sound.” It also seems likely that the white house would have more leverage negotiating for these people’s release if it was mandated by congress rather than just being one of many bargaining chips at the negotiation table.

In addition to these specific prisoners, the US needs to send the message that they will protect their citizens. With ISIS, Hamas, Boko Haram, and other radical militants spreading violence across the Middle East and Africa, it’s important that the US makes it clear that they won’t sit idly by while terrorists wage war against peaceful civilians.

In 21st century America, people love quotes like “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” and “Be the change you want to see in the world”, but do we really believe it? If we don’t advocate for our fellow citizens locked away in Iran with no help and no hope, then clearly we don’t.

Retweet this to help spread the word:

Tell congress that American prisoners in Iran are a priority! #SaveSaeed #FreeAmirNow #FreeJason #HelpBobLevinson http://t.co/PdTmz6B2dR

— Adam Wright (@WrightAdamR)

April 29, 2015

You can help by sharing this on facebook, twitter, tumbler, email, etc. including the hashtags #SaveSaeed #FreeAmirNow #FreeJason #HelpBobLevinson

You can help by going here: beheardproject.com/saeed freeamir.org/write-to-govt-officials

By: Adam Wright