Jared Genser:
Well, I approach this as a human rights partisan, not a political one.
And the reality is, is that Republican and Democratic presidents going back to the hostage-taking in '79 and going back to the beginning of our history have wrestled with this issue and failed repeatedly to address it. For the Namazis, it's worth noting that they felt no difference in the policies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
And let me just explain briefly what I mean. Siamak Namazi was left behind by President Obama in the hostage deal, along with the nuclear deal, in 2016. And, from there, Secretary Kerry told the family, well, he will be out in a couple of weeks. This is what we have heard.
Instead, Baquer Namazi got detained. And by the end of the Obama administration, both Baquer Namazi and Siamak Namazi were hostages and had 10-year sentences for collaborating with the enemy.
Then, President Trump comes along, and we hope, along with the family, I hope, that President Trump is talking about maximum pressure on Iran. And we're like, great, maximum pressure. Let's see if that works, right?
And it turns out that the maximum-pressure campaign in Iran was a zero-pressure policy on American hostages. Indeed, there was not a single action taken by President Trump to put any pressure on Iran that directly connected to hostages that had any impact.
And so, four years later, not only were the Namazis still in jail, but, despite having been promised at the beginning of the administration that it wouldn't happen, the Namazis were left behind two more times, where Americans that were taken later were — deals were struck to get them out, and the Namazis were again left behind.
So what's the difference for the Namazis between Donald Trump and Barack Obama? And the answer is nothing. And the reason is because, tragically, no administration seems to take this issue as a serious priority. I'm very glad that President Biden got this done.
But the reality is, is that this is not a top priority of this administration, really, or any other. And the reality is, is that we need to take a dramatically different direction if we want to end the practice of state-sponsored hostage-taking.
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