LOC09:31
06:31 GMT
WASHINGTON, July 22 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump and his Administration are "redoubling efforts to bring home all Americans unjustly detained abroad," the White House said Friday.
The White House said in a statement that the US "condemns hostage takers and nations that continue to take hostages and detain our citizens without just cause or due process."
In this regard, the White House stressed that for about 40 years, "Iran has used detentions and hostage taking as a tool of state policy, a practice that continues to this day with the recent sentencing of Xiyue Wang to ten years in prison."
Iran recently sentenced Wang, 37, a Chinese-born American and a graduate at Princeton University, to 10 years in prison, accusing him of spying for the US government.
"Iran is responsible for the care and well-being of every United States citizen in its custody," the statement remarked.
It stressed that Trump "urges Iran to return Robert Levinson home, who has been held for over 10 years, and demands Iran release Siamak and Baquer Namazi, who were taken during the Obama administration, along with all other American citizens unjustly detained by Iran."
The White House warned that Trump "is prepared to impose new and serious consequences on Iran unless all unjustly imprisoned American citizens are released and returned." (end)
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