U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio labeled Iran on Monday as the "world's worst violator" in hostage-taking and stated that Washington will not tolerate this practice as a diplomatic tool.
"When it comes to hostage-taking, there has been no worse violator in the world than the clerical regime in Tehran," he said. The U.S. included Iran in a new list of countries that carry out arbitrary detentions, aiming to penalize Tehran for the arrest of American citizens.
Iran is the first country designated as a "state sponsor of unjust detentions," a category created by U.S. President Donald Trump in an executive order signed last September.
Rubio paid tribute to Robert Levinson, the former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in March 2007, considered one of the longest-held hostages in U.S. history.
The head of American diplomacy also lamented the deaths of seven Americans killed since the beginning of attacks on Iran on February 28.
"We will not stop until every unjustly detained American is brought home," he emphasized.
The Secretary also took the opportunity to praise the joint military offensive with Israel and stressed that Iran has had fewer missiles since the start of the war.
"Its factories are working less, its navy is being destroyed, and the world will be a safer and better place when this mission is accomplished," he stated.
One day before the start of the offensive in which Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, the U.S. government...
