Dem urges Iran to release American prisoner

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) on Tuesday urged the Iranian government to release American political prisoners to prove its commitment to establishing peaceful relations amid the international nuclear talks.

Amir Hekmati, a former Marine whose family lives in Kildee’s district, was arrested in 2011 while visiting his grandmother in Iran. A few months later, Iranian state television aired a confession from Hekmati claiming that he had been spying on Iran for the CIA. He was later sentenced to death, but is currently being held in an Iranian prison.

{mosads}Kildee said the Iranian government should release Hekmati and other Americans held in prison to demonstrate its new approach to international relations.

“If, in fact, Iran intends, as they purport to do, to try to take steps to join the international community, they cannot hold Americans like Amir Hekmati as political prisoners,” Kildee said on the House floor.

“They can make a very clear demonstration of their seriousness by releasing Amir Hekmati and the other Americans that they hold,” Kildee added. 

Earlier this year, Kildee left his guest seat empty for the State of the Union to draw attention to Hekmati’s continued imprisonment.