White House seeks Pope's help on prisoners in Iran
The fate of 3 Americans remains a stumbling block to improving relations.
By Nahal Toosi
09/20/15, 08:15 PM EDT
Updated 09/20/15, 11:31 PM EDT
The Obama administration has been quietly in touch with the Vatican about ways that Pope Francis can help free three Americans imprisoned in Iran — a major source of friction as President Barack Obama and Iranian leaders finalize their nuclear deal.
The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics — who already has helped the U.S. mend fences with Cuba, another long-time nemesis — visits Washington this week as the dust is still settling from a contentious congressional debate over the nuclear deal, in which the fate of the three prisoners was repeatedly invoked by Republicans as a reason not to negotiate.
According to a person familiar with the cases, the U.S. and the Vatican have been in contact in recent months about the prisoners and at least one prisoner's family has reached out directly to Pope Francis for help.
The pope doesn't command any military divisions, as Joseph Stalin is said to have pointed out. But the idea of the Roman Catholic leader trying to nudge Islamist theocrats in Iran to release Americans isn't far-fetched. Just a few months ago, he met with a high-ranking Iranian female politician, a sign of his ongoing interest in the country.
The Vatican, a city-state with only 800 residents, has long played an important role in international diplomacy, both covertly and overtly, including as an intermediary in hostage cases. With embassies all over the world, not to mention its churches and other affililated institutions, the Catholic church is legendarily well-connected, a fact that could help the Obama administration when its priorities align.
"The Vatican is the ultimate insider. They know things not even the CIA knows," said Massimo Faggioli, a church expert who teaches at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.
U.S. officials and Vatican representatives declined to comment on any aspect of the American prisoners case, including what action the pope may have taken or whether American officials would raise the issue during his visit.
Francis, who has spoken out in strong terms against the actions of the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq and Syria, is especially concerned about the fate of Christian communities in Muslim-majority countries. That could be factor if he decides to get involved in the case of the Iranian prisoners.
One of the imprisoned men is Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor with ties to Iran's tiny Christian community. The other two are former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati and detained Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian. All three families insist the men have been unjustly held. A fourth American, retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, is thought to be missing in Iran as well.
Despite being part of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, the United States has not had diplomatic relations with Iran in more than 30 years. Obama administration officials have hinted that they are still talking to the Iranians about the imprisoned Americans.
The Vatican, meanwhile, has an embassy in Tehran and retains an ability to talk directly to the government.
In February, the pope met with a delegation of leading Iranian women. It's unclear if the American prisoners came up in the talks, but the head of the delegation, Shahindokht Molaverdi, Iran's vice president for women and family affairs, told the Catholic-focused publication Crux that she was open to the idea of Francis helping Iran and the U.S. work out their problems the way he did with the U.S. and Cuba.
“Certainly this pope has an ability to bring people together, which can also influence governments,” she said.
Francis, who took over the papacy less than three years ago, has already shown a willingness to get involved in international disputes at a more aggressive pace than his predecessor, Benedict XVI.
He has argued against military intervention in Syria, called on Europeans to admit refugees from the Middle East and strongly supported taking action against climate change. Perhaps his most impactful role, as far as is known publicly, was guiding the rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba.
The Argentine-born Francis wrote to the presidents of both countries urging them to improve ties and hosted a meeting of Cuban and U.S. delegations at the Vatican as they discussed restoring diplomatic relations. His appeals also helped lead to the release of Alan Gross, an American imprisoned in Cuba, as well as three Cubans held in the U.S.
Foreign policy analysts said Francis is poised to do more in Latin America, where he spent much of his life and his church service. Political and at times violent conflicts in Venezuela and Colombia — both of special concern to the United States — could see even greater Vatican involvement under Francis.
"This guy has broken new ground. He’s a disruptor on foreign affairs in the region," said Carl Meacham, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
U.S. Catholic leaders believe Francis will touch on the importance of diplomacy — which some will read as an allusion to his support for the Iran nuclear deal — during his speech to Congress on Sept. 24. He could get even more specific on international issues on Sept. 25, when he addresses the United Nations in New York.
POLITICO Illustration/Getty and AP Images
While acknowledging the pope's role in the rapprochement with Cuba, White House officials have been careful not to get too specific about future areas of cooperation on foreign policy. In a recent call with reporters, however, they pointed to broad themes — in particular climate change and religious freedom — to which they hope Francis will continue to lend his voice.
Issues "like climate change, like fighting inequality, like fighting poverty, like reaching out to people in distress and people in need, his essential messages will resonate very much with the president’s agenda," said Charlie Kupchan, senior director for European affairs at the National Security Council. "And in that respect, we are hoping that his moral authority helps us advance many of the items that we take to be very high on our policy agenda."
Francis is following in the footsteps of other popes when it comes to foreign affairs.
John Paul II, who was originally from Poland, actively opposed Soviet communism, even forming an alliance with then-President Ronald Reagan. John Paul also fiercely opposed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Pope John XXIII is credited for helping defuse the 1962 Cuban missile crisis by issuing an appeal for peace through Vatican Radio.
Francis' actions on the international stage have not always been well-received. His decision to move forward with the Vatican's recognition of a Palestinian state drew protests from Israel. His calls for global action against climate change have met resistance from Republican presidential candidates who suggested the pope should stick to spiritual matters.
The pontiff's visit to the United States, which will follow a stop in Cuba, is expected to overlap with a visit by the Chinese President Xi Jinping. Though it's unlikely the two will run into each other, the pope has made past overtures to China, which tolerates only a state-sanctioned version of Catholicism, driving other Catholics underground.
In November, the 78-year-old pontiff is planning a swing through Africa, where he will visit Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. There he will likely discuss themes such as poverty and the tenuous state of Christian-Muslim relations on the continent, where the spread of Islamist extremist militias is of mounting concern to Washington.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/white-house-pope-francis-iran-prisoners-213604#ixzz3mNBdiZX4
