--- description: An exchange would incentivize "people to take Americans hostage and prisoner" title: Marco Rubio: Washington Post image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta70efa1599c39d5c/6988796dab6d771b236a8000/marco-rubio7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Election 2016](/tag/election-2016/) ## Election 2016 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Marco Rubio Condemns Prisoner Swap for _Post_ Journalist ## Video: Iran Reportedly Releases Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian [Watch (HLS stream): Iran Reportedly Releases Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/isvuRI2o.m3u8) (0:37)  _Published 2016-01-16. Rezaian and three U.S.-Iranian prisoners will reportedly be released in exchange for six Iranian-Americans held by the U.S., Iranian media reported._ by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 16, 2016 4:34 PM CUT  Marco Rubio speaks during a town hall meeting at the Pella Golf and Country Club in Pella, Iowa on Dec. 30, 2015. Marco Rubio speaks during a town hall meeting at the Pella Golf and Country Club in Pella, Iowa on Dec. 30, 2015.Scott Morgan—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 16, 2016 4:34 PM CUT (Johnston, Iowa) — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Saturday morning he was not aware of the specifics of the [release of four Americans held prisoner in Iran](http://time.com/4183498/washington-post-jason-rezaian-released-iran/?xid=homepage "undefined"), but said it would be wrong to for their release to have come as part of a prisoner exchange, saying it creates an incentive for enemies of the United States to take U.S. nationals hostage. Speaking to reporters after a campaign event in Iowa, Rubio said the four prisoners including an Iranian-American pastor and Jason Rezaian, a Washington _Post_ journalist, “should never have been \[in jail\] in the first place—they didn’t do anything wrong.” “If these reports are true, of course we’re happy for them and their families, but they should have never been there,” he added. But Rubio added that reports that their release came as part of an exchange for Iranian prisoners held by the U.S. were troubling. “We shouldn’t be involved in swaps,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that this tells us everything we need to know about the Iranian regime—that they take people hostage in order to gain concessions,” he continued. “And the fact that they can get away with it with this administration I think has created an incentive for more governments to do this around the world.” Rubio listed the 2014 exchange of Cuban spies for a U.S. aide worker in Cuba that helped pave the way for a rapprochement between the two countries, and the swap of Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Berghdal, as part of the problem. “\[The Cubans\] released someone who did nothing wrong in Alan Gross in exchange for people who have committed crimes,” he continued. “In the case of these individuals they did nothing wrong and we’ll see if in fact it’s true, we’ll see what concessions Iran gained beyond massive sanctions relief. But when you do deals like the Bergdahl deal and other things, you are incentivizing people to take Americans hostage and prisoner even if they’ve done nothing wrong.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4183530/marco-rubio-washington-post-jason-rezaian/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4183530/marco-rubio-washington-post-jason-rezaian/"},"headline":"Marco Rubio Condemns Prisoner Swap for Post Journalist","datePublished":"2016-01-16T16:34:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:11:41.001Z","description":"An exchange would incentivize \"people to take Americans hostage and prisoner\"","url":"https://time.com/4183530/marco-rubio-washington-post-jason-rezaian/","keywords":["Election 2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta70efa1599c39d5c/6988796dab6d771b236a8000/marco-rubio7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta70efa1599c39d5c/6988796dab6d771b236a8000/marco-rubio7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidential Candidate Marco Rubio Holds Town Halls With Trey Gowdy","caption":"Presidential Candidate Marco Rubio Holds Town Halls With Trey Gowdy","creditText":"Scott Morgan—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/election-2016/","name":"Election 2016"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4183530/marco-rubio-washington-post-jason-rezaian/","name":"Marco Rubio Condemns Prisoner Swap for Post Journalist"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Iran Reportedly Releases Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian","description":"Rezaian and three U.S.-Iranian prisoners will reportedly be released in exchange for six Iranian-Americans held by the U.S., Iranian media reported.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/isvuRI2o/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-16T15:31:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/isvuRI2o.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4183530/marco-rubio-washington-post-jason-rezaian/","duration":"PT37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4183530/marco-rubio-washington-post-jason-rezaian/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```