UANI Stands With Barry Rosen Ahead Of Hunger Strike To Free Hostages In Iran

(New York, N.Y.) — United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) released the following statement today expressing its full support for Barry Rosen, a survivor of the Iran hostage crisis and UANI senior advisor, as he prepares to begin a hunger strike in Vienna. Rosen is protesting Iran’s hostage diplomacy, raising awareness about the cases of the publicly disclosed American and European hostages, and demanding the release of all hostages as a precondition to any deal with Iran.

Iran takes hostages for several reasons. They serve as bargaining chips for the regime to extract geopolitical concessions from other countries. The government also seeks to punish undesirable behavior and send a message to Iranians to refrain from internal dissent. Finally, Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, so by targeting dual nationals, the regime demonstrates to the Iranian expatriate community that they are not beyond Tehran’s grasp. 

“Barry and his colleagues at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran suffered immensely as hostages for 444 days, and too many others have similarly suffered at the hands of the Iranian regime. Westerners continue to be targeted and used as bait by the Iranian regime. The regime must be held accountable for its abhorrent policy of hostage diplomacy to stop further suffering. No concessions should be made to Iran until it verifiably ends its malign behavior, including freeing all hostages. UANI stands with Barry, our friend and colleague, as he works to bring attention to this critical issue.”