Amir Hekmati’s Letter to Congress

April 21, 2015

To:

Hon. John Boehner, Speaker of the House

Hon. Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader

Hon. Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader

Hon. Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader

Hon. Ed Royce, Chairman, House Foreign Affairs

Hon. Eliot Engel, Ranking Member, House Foreign

Hon. Bob Corker, Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations

Hon. Benjamin Cardin, Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations

 

Dear Congressional Leaders,

As a fellow American and combat veteran, I am writing to bring to your attention my situation and that of a long list of my fellow Americans. For nearly three and a half years, I have been falsely imprisoned and treated inhumanely by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence as a part of an ongoing propaganda campaign. After months of torture and solitary confinement, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence paraded a false and forced confession in international media in a failed attempt to humiliate the U.S. government.

The Ministry of Intelligence has demanded I be exchanged for Iranians being held in the U.S. for national security-related offenses, a tactic that has been repeating itself for a long time now. In a letter to Secretary of State Kerry, I voiced my opposition to any prisoner exchange, as I’ve committed no crime, and consider the Ministry of Intelligence demands to be illegitimate. I assume the same demands are being made for other U.S. captives.

While I am thankful that the State Department and the Obama administration has called for my release and that of my fellow Americans, there has been no serious response to this blatant and ongoing mistreatment of Americans by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and they continue on with impunity.

It was only a few months after the release of the American hikers, who were falsely imprisoned for nearly two and a half years, that I was dealt a similar fate, having been sentenced to death by

hanging and, subsequently, 10 years. A short time later, Mr. Abedini, a Christian pastor from Idaho, was sentenced to eight years.

And in the midst of negotiation with Iran over its nuclear program, Secretary Kerry sits politely with the Iranians, shaking hands and offering large economic concessions to save them from economic meltdown, Jason Rezaian was added to the growing list of American captives, undoubtedly in hopes of milking more concessions from the U.S. government. As of today, the fate of Robert Levinson is still unknown.

This, while the U.S. has opened its doors to Iranians who wish to study at U.S. universities and benefit from U.S resources, while Americans visiting Iran are offered a prison cell and humiliation.

As a war veteran who defended our nation in its time of need, I ask that you also work to defend my dignity and that of my fellow Americans by putting in place serious consequences for this serial hostage-taking and mistreatment of Americans by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence for clearly illegal purposes.

This has been going on far too long.

 

Thank you,

Amir Hekmati

 

CC:

The Hon. Ileana Ros-Letinen

Chairwoman

House Foreign Affairs Committee

Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa

 

The Hon. Ted Deutch

Ranking Member

House Foreign Affairs Committee

Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa

 

The Hon. Jim Risch

Chairman

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism

 

The Hon. Christopher Murphy

Ranking Member

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism