Free Republic

As the families of U.S. hostages currently held in Iran have struggled for years to rally the determination to bring their loved ones home, newly released emails from the former secretary of State reveal the infuriating truth that those with connections get their case raised to the top. In 2009, Iason Athanasiadis was covering the protests of the disputed election win of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Mir-Hossein Mousavi for the Washington Times. The Greek citizen was detained by Iranian authorities on June 17, 2009, as he tried to fly out of the country. Athanasiadis was thrown in Evin prison and released...

Statement from Martin Baron, Washington Post executive editor: The guilty verdict announced by Iran in the trial of The Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian represents an outrageous injustice. Iran has behaved unconscionably throughout this case, but never more so than with this indefensible decision by a Revolutionary Court to convict an innocent journalist of serious crimes after a proceeding that unfolded in secret, with no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing. For now, no sentence has been announced. We are working with Jason’s family and Iranian counsel to pursue an immediate appeal, and we expect Jason’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, also to petition...

The Senate lent strong support today to a simply worded resolution calling on Iran to let four Americans come home. The bipartisan resolution from Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) passed 90-0. It states that it’s the policy of the United States that “the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran should immediately release Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, and cooperate with the United States Government to locate and return Robert Levinson; and the United States Government should undertake every effort using every diplomatic tool at its disposal to secure their immediate release.” Washington Post bureau chief Rezaian, a California...

<p>Novi, Michigan(CNN)Gov. Scott Walker on Monday sought to use President Barack Obama's slipping popularity on foreign policy issues as a punching bag and sought to bolster his own credentials ahead of a likely presidential bid.</p> <p>Speaking in Novi, Michigan, the Wisconsin Republican rallied around the plight of a Michigan man who has been held hostage in Iran since 2011 and blasted Obama for failing to do enough on the missing man's behalf--as well as failing to ward off attacks by Islamic terrorists around the world.</p>

Recent developments involving the Islamic Republic of Iran can fairly be characterized as grave. Iran has announced that it has begun construction on two more nuclear plants, and the authorities have imprisoned a Washington Post journalist on mysterious charges. **SNIP** On behalf of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Matt Brooks of the Republican Jewish Coalition put out this statement: What exactly was President Obama suggesting when he said opposition to his Iran policy is due to “donors”? No one would say opposition to his Russia policy is due to ‘donors,’ or his Cuba policy is due to “donors,” or his general...