The U.S. Senate voted in favor of a resolution for the Obama administration to secure the release of Americans held in Iran, including Pastor Saeed Abedini.
According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the administration should "use the tools it has in pursuit of what should be a bipartisan goal: securing the release of American citizens being held as hostages by the regime in Iran.”
The ACLJ reports McConnell continued, “One of those Americans, Saeed Abedini, has reportedly been held prisoner for what would appear to be the supposed 'crime' of attempting to build and operate an orphanage. Beaten, denied access to medical care and locked away in solitary confinement—that's apparently how the Iranian regime deals with those who dare to show love and compassion to others.
No American should find this acceptable. Just as no American should find it acceptable to unjustly imprison a reporter, or a grandson coming to see his grandmother. I think we can all agree that, at the very least, the American government should not be rewarding Iran for its disgraceful human-rights abuses—that we should not be granting Iran access to the funding it desires to further its nuclear weapons program and terrorist proxies while this exploitation continues.”
The resolution was sponsored by Senator James Risch of Idaho, Abedini’s home state, according to Charisma News.
Publication date: May 13, 2015