AFP
Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday appealed to Iran to release three detained Americans including a Christian pastor and a journalist, and to help locate a US citizen missing there since 2007.
“The United States respectfully calls on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini, and Jason Rezaian to their families and work co-operatively with us to find Robert Levinson and bring him home,” Kerry said in a statement.
Yesterday marked three years since Hekmati, a former US Marine, was detained on what Kerry called “false espionage charges while visiting his family” in Iran.
“He has long been separated from his family and they need him home,” the top US diplomat said.
Next month marks the second anniversary of the detention of Abedini, a pastor held on charges related to his religious beliefs, Kerry noted.
Rezaian, the Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent, was detained for security reasons on July 22, and Kerry said Rezaian is being held at an unknown location.
His wife Yeganeh Salehi, also a journalist, was detained the same day.
The Levinson case has been more protracted. The retired FBI agent disappeared in March 2007 on Kish Island.
“We are immensely concerned about his well-being and whereabouts,” Kerry said, requesting that Iran “work co-operatively with us to find Mr Levinson and bring him home”.
In March in a previous appeal to Iran, Kerry described Levinson as one of the longest held American citizens in history.
