The United States has repeated its call on Iranian authorities to release immediately Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who completed 1,000 days of imprisonment on Sunday.
Nadarkhani still faces the threat of execution for simply following his faith, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
She noted that the Iranian regime continues to deny and abuse human rights of its citizens, in particular those of its many ethnic and religious minorities. The State Department said Washington was troubled by reports of the execution of four members of Iran's Ahwazi Arab community, whose sentences were carried out with little due process. In March, Iranian state media broadcast the forced confession of one of those executed.
The statement said the U..S government was also concerned by credible reports that prominent author Mohammad Soleimani Nia was missing following his release in May after five months in prison on unspecified charges.
The United States called upon Iranian authorities to respect and protect the freedoms and dignity of all its citizens, and to uphold its own laws and international obligations which guarantee such rights to all Iranians, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.
by RTT Staff Writer
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