Sen. Marco Rubio suggested three missing Americans in Iraq were taken hostage by forces related to Iran, NBC News reported.
The GOP candidate suggested they “were kidnapped” in retaliation “right as other American hostages were being released.”
The State Department confirmed that U.S. and Iraqi officials were trying to locate the missing three, but wouldn’t confirm reports that they were kidnapped.
While Rubio praised their release, he warned the agreement to release them — part of the nuclear deal — "created an incentive for people to grab Americans because, you know, if you grab a group of Americans you can get something from Barack Obama."
"None of these people did anything wrong, they were trumped up charges, some of them weren't even charged. They were hostages. And why is it happening? Well, because you have a president that people know you can get a deal with," he said.
