Iran pursuing Iranians’ status held hostage by US

Tehran, IRNA – Iran's Deputy Judiciary Chief and Secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic is pursuing the status of those Iranians who have been taken hostage by the US.

The US is a major human rights violator, both domestically and internationally, Kazem Gharibabadi told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on revealing the American human rights.

For the United States, human rights are merely tools for exerting political pressure on independent states to advance their foreign policy objectives, he underlined.

He called on the international community to hold the US accountable for its crimes.

In support of Iranian nationals and diplomats affected by the measures of foreign countries, particularly the US, a law has been passed by Majlis in 2010.

A number of Iranians have been imprisoned in the U.S. under false pretexts of circumventing unlawful sanctions, he said.

It is our duty to pursue the hostages, he said, noting that  some steps have been taken so far, but more needs to be done.