“Free all Americans.” Rubio announces that the US has designated Iran as an “arbitrary detention state”
Marco Rubio and Donald Trump. Photo credit: Pool/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that he has designated Iran as a “state sponsor of illegal detentions,” specifically a state that practices arbitrary detention as a form of “hostage diplomacy,” as he called for the release of American citizens wrongfully held in Iranian prisons.
“The Iranian regime must stop taking hostages and release all American citizens wrongfully detained in Iran — steps that could end this designation and related actions,” Marco Rubio said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The measure announced by the head of US diplomacy comes in the context of growing tensions in the Middle East, where the threat of US strikes against Iran is being planned.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was disappointed with negotiations with Iran, warning that “sometimes you have to use force”.
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