1979 on Repeat? Opponents Accuse Obama of Mishandling Hostage Issue With Iran

1979 may be repeating itself.

Opponents of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran have complained that it does not help the fate of four American hostages being held captive by the Iranian government.

Penny Nance, the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee president, is among those comparing the tragedy of the four Americans to the Iranian hostage crisis.

“Reminiscent of 1979, when Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and successfully captured 52 Americans, once again U.S. citizens are being mistreated and unjustly imprisoned by the theocratic, Islamic regime,” Nance said. “The recent negotiations with Iran evoke terrible memories from past dealings under the Carter administration’s sweaty-palmed foreign policy and ineptitude.”

President Obama has argued that the nuclear issue with Iran should be handled separately to the hostage situation. He fears that the Iranian government would be inspired to take more Americans hostage in the future if Tehran knows it would bring the U.S. to the negotiating table.

But this omission has angered many as some of these American citizens have been held captive by Iran for years.

Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee hosted a rally in front of the White House on Thursday to show their support for the American prisoners and demand their immediate release.

“I am incredulous that this administration would even sit down with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to talk about a deal without first of all demanding the release of our American citizens. This is unbelieveable,” Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., said at the event.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, echoed these sentiments.

“If this deal goes through, without exaggeration, the Obama administration will become the world’s leading state sponsor and financier of radical Islamic terrorism,” Cruz said. “You cannot have peace with a lunatic zealot who wants to murder you.”

Protesters from the group Code Pink interrupted the rally and attempted to engage Cruz by yelling comments at him. Cruz engaged one representative from the group in a discussion, but another continued the disruption.

“Sir, I recognize you find the truth very offensive, but under the First Amendment, debate means you have to listen to things you disagree with,” Cruz said. “And I have listened to what you have said. I would ask you to show the same courtesy, particularly since you have come to our event and crashed it.”

For Tiffany Barrans, the international legal director at the American Center for Law and Justice, this issue is both personal and professional. Barrans is working with the ACLJ to secure the release of Pastor Saeed Abedini, and shared his family’s struggle with The Daily Signal.

Saeed travelled to Iran in 2012 in order to continue his work on constructing an orphanage when he was taken into custody and charged with undermining Iranian national security.

“They charge them with a national security based crime so that other countries won’t engage, rather than making it about the religion,” Barrans said. “Then they don’t sentence them to death, they actually give them a lower sentence because it’s not appealable to the Supreme Court. Not as many people want to speak out when it’s an 8-year sentence and not a death sentence.”

However, Barrans told The Daily Signal that Saeed repeatedly is threatened by the Iranian guards that they will “find a reason” to keep him in prison for longer.

While Saeed has endured physical torture, Barrans stated that his family is concerned over his mental state as well.

“His wife will tell you, you can heal the physical body but you can’t heal the mind. For her, the psychological torture that has gone on here has by far worried her the most,” Barrans told The Daily Signal. “She said recently, ‘I don’t know the man that’s going to return. What father is going to return to my kids?’ That’s why every day really does matter.”

Many remain hopeful that a resolution can some day be reached for the hostages to return home safe.

“It is worth remembering that Iran released our hostages in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was sworn in. If you want peace, peace through strength,” Cruz said.