Bring Our Fellow Americans Home

American Pastor Saeed Abedini has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since 2012 for his Christian faith.

American journalist Jason Rezaian has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since 2014 under trumped-up charges.

American veteran Amir Hekmati has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since visiting his grandmother there in 2011.

American contractor Robert Levinson disappeared in Iran in 2007.

Mr. President – It’s time to bring our fellow Americans home.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn wrote a gripping column detailing the Obama Administration’s failures in letting Iran gain the upper hand in not only the bad nuclear deal, but also the fate of our fellow Americans. After detailing who these men are, he writes:

It’s important to repeat these names—loudly, frequently and in public. The reason is that such Americans have no natural constituency pleading for them, outside of their families and the occasional congressman. For a White House, there’s always some trade deal, some military exercise or other agreement that can make the plight of an individual American seem less a call for action than an irritant to the diplomatic agenda.

This is why we have been aggressively advocating for their freedom for years, on Capitol Hill, at the United Nations, and with leaders from around the world.  This is why we hold prayer vigils and collect over one million signatures.  We must continue our advocacy because our fellow Americans deserve it.

WSJ explains more:

Every one of these lives is important, not least to the families who pray for the safe release of their loved ones. But their cases hold a larger importance too. Because the world becomes a much more dangerous place when the message goes out that it’s open season on Americans. 

The only real protection for our vulnerable citizens abroad is this: The certainty among bad guys that they will pay a swift and severe price for molesting an American citizen.

In the first Iranian hostage crisis, Jimmy Carter at least made Iran pay by banning Iranian imports and freezing its assets. In this new hostage crisis, by contrast, the Americans held prisoner are paying off for Iran, not only by making it harder for Mr. Obama to punish any Iranian cheating on the nuclear deal but in the regime’s access to tens of billions in unfrozen assets.

Statements aren’t enough. Only action will change anything. Only U.S. power prioritizing our fellow Americans will bring them home.

As we end one year and begin another, we must remain relentless in our advocacy for the wrongfully imprisoned Americans in Iran.

Pastor Saeed Abedini, Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, and Robert Levinson – all U.S. Citizens – could be your father, husband, son, brother, neighbor, colleague, or friend.

We are their only hope. If Americans don’t fight for their freedom, who will?