Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Risch issued the following statement today in response to the release of Idahoan Saeed Abedini and four other Americans that have been in custody in Iran:

 “Pastor Abedini should never have been in prison in the first place. He certainly should have been released prior to the administration making any kind of deal with the Iranians. We are certainly happy that Pastor Abedini and the other Americans have been released and that should have been done long ago.”

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