Washington 0
5 June 2020

Discussing the 4 June release of a U.S. prisoner held in Iran, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, underscored that “while we are pleased that Iran was constructive in the last two negotiations, there’s still more work to do. The U.S. calls for the release of U.S. citizens Baquer Namazi, Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz, who have been wrongfully detained… and we also demand a full accounting of the fate of Robert Levinson”. He further noted that “every successfully concluded diplomatic engagement does build confidence… we would like to see the regime meet our diplomacy with diplomacy, but that’s a question for the Iranian regime, I think, at the end of the day, as to how they want to proceed”. Hook further opined that the U.S. policy combining “maximum economic pressure, diplomatic isolation and the credible threat of military force…  is a winning formula when it comes to dealing with this specific regime [ie, Iran], and it’s something that we’re going to continue”.

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