Kerry: We Did Not Want the Overall Nuclear Agreement to Depend on the Release of Americans

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated that during months of negotiations over the nuclear program with Tehran, the issue of freeing American citizens imprisoned in Iran was raised in every meeting, but Washington did not want the fate of the negotiations to hinge on this issue. On October 13, Kerry again urged Iranian officials to release Jason Rezaian, a journalist for The Washington Post, Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. soldier, and Saeed Abedini, a pastor of a missionary church. All three imprisoned citizens hold citizenship from both Iran and the United States. The issue of Iranian-American prisoners has become a sensitive topic in the relations between the two countries, which have entered a new phase with the achievement of a nuclear agreement after decades. Kerry stated at a press conference in Boston that negotiators did not want the fate of the overall negotiations to depend on the release of citizens. According to The Washington Post, Kerry said, 'From our perspective, this was the right thing to do because it could have significantly impacted both issues and likely resulted in neither reaching a conclusion.' These comments come as a group of U.S. politicians, especially Republican representatives, have criticized the government regarding the release of American citizens. This group of critics has called for the freedom of these three individuals to be included in the nuclear agreement with Iran. On the other hand, some Democratic representatives have expressed a different opinion, including Dan Lipinski, a congressman from Chicago, who told Radio Farda that he does not want the freedom of citizens 'to be exchanged under any conditions in the nuclear talks with Iran' and that 'the Tehran and 1+5 talks should truly be limited to the Iranian government's nuclear program.' Recently, Iran's judiciary announced that a sentence has been issued for Jason Rezaian, although the details of this sentence are unclear. Kerry stated that this matter has not yet been officially confirmed. He added that the U.S. State Department will continue to 'talk' with the Iranian side about the imprisoned citizens 'until they return home.' Rezaian has been accused of espionage, which his lawyer, The Washington Post, and the U.S. government have repeatedly denied. Saeed Abedini, the pastor, has been imprisoned on charges related to 'actions against national security.' Amir Hekmati faced charges such as espionage, which initially led to a death sentence, but this was changed to ten years in prison upon appeal. Jason Rezaian has been in prison since July 21 of last year without any sentence being issued against him. Meanwhile, the U.S. has also asked Tehran to assist in locating Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran eight years ago. In this context, Ali Larijani referred to the possibility of a prisoner exchange between Iran and the U.S. The imprisoned pastor's wife in Iran hopes for the Pope's intervention for his release. The Washington Post protested against the ruling against Jason Rezaian, and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee condemned the court's ruling against Rezaian.