State Dept. Corrects Reporter on Iran Hostages: Actually, They’re ‘Detainees’

‘A decision was made a very long time ago that trying to get our Americans home should be a separate matter’

Sherman Corrects Reporter on Iran Hostages: Actually, They’re ‘Detainees’ (Washington Free Beacon)

Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman schooled a reporter on the proper terminology to use when discussing American hostages in Iran on Thursday.

“Did the hostages ever come up [during nuclear talks] or were they only a sideline issue?” a reporter asked during the State Department press briefing.

“Well the Americans, we probably legally would not call them hostages,” Sherman instructed the reporters. She suggested the term “detainees” instead, and assured the press that “our focus of attention has been and always will be” bringing home the four American hostages.

The word “hostage” carries historical baggage in the context of relations between Iran and the United States because of the 52 American citizens who were held hostage by the fledgling Islamic republic between 1979 and 1981. The 444 day hostage crisis was a particularly poignant example of the Iranian regime’s anti-Americanism, which persists to this day.

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