UANI Calls Upon Iran To Release All Remaining Hostages On 39th Anniversary Of Survivors' Return To Freedom

At Least Four Americans Remain Hostages, As Well As 16 Other Western Citizens

(New York, N.Y.) - Tomorrow, survivors of the Iran hostage crisis will mark the 39th anniversary of their release after being held by the Iranian regime for 444 days. That event was the first of many instances where the Iranian regime used hostage taking for political purposes.

As U.S. Principal Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Hugh Dugan remarked at UANI's Iran Summit in September, hostage taking is "now a major industry in Iran's arsenal of international affairs."

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) calls upon Iran to immediately release all remaining hostages, including at least four Americans currently in Iranian captivity in violation of the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages and urges the international community to demand Tehran end its violent tactics and return all hostages safely to their families.

UANI's resource, American and Western Hostages, outlines the stories and updates with the Americans and other Westerners currently being held captive in Iran. UANI recognizes the inactivity and lack of accountability by the regime in Tehran and calls for the immediate release of all hostages currently detained by Iran.

Michael WhiteMichael White is a California native who served for 13 years in the U.S. Navy. He suffers from asthma and cancer. He flew from Los Angeles to Dubai on July 9, 2018, and then from there to Iran to visit a woman he claimed was his girlfriend. He visited her four times over in the years before his detention. White's family announced in January of 2019 that he was arrested that past July while in Iran to visit his girlfriend. The Iranian Foreign Ministry claimed in January of 2019 that White was arrested "in the city of Mashhad a while ago, and within a few days after his arrest, the U.S. government was informed of the arrest through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran." According to his mother Joanne, he was taken to court at least twice and has been held in Vakilabad Prison.

Robert LevinsonAmerican private investigator and retired FBI agent Robert Levinson disappeared on March 9,   2007, on Iran's Kish Island, while reportedly on an unauthorized CIA mission to investigate   corruption. He has "not been publicly seen or heard from since." In December 2013, Iran-based   American fugitive Dawud Salahuddin disclosed that he witnessed Iranian police detaining   Levinson at the time of his disappearance. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has   "denied all knowledge of Levinson's whereabouts," yet there is "consensus" among U.S. officials   that the Iranian government is responsible for images taken of Levinson by his captors. Levinson   is now considered to be the longest-held hostage in American history.

Siamak NamaziSiamak Namazi is an Iranian-American businessman residing in Dubai. Siamak's father, Baquer, is a former governor under the Shah of the oil-rich province of Khuzestan in western Iran. Siamak's family came to the United States in 1983, when he was a boy. He became a U.S. citizen in 1993. Siamak was arrested on October 15, 2015, when he traveled to Iran to visit relatives and attend a funeral. He is currently being held at Evin Prison's Ward 2-A, which is controlled by the intelligence branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

 

Baquer NamaziIranian-American Baquer Namazi, born in 1936, is a former Iranian provincial governor under the Shah and UNICEF representative who worked in several countries, including Kenya, Somalia, and Egypt. Baquer most recently ran Hamyaran, an umbrella organization of a number of different Iranian NGOs. On February 22, 2016, Baquer was arrested after arriving in Iran to visit his imprisoned son Siamak. Security forces detained Baquer at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport at night, as he returned home to Iran from Dubai, where he had gone for a medical check-up and to visit his grandchildren.

 

To read UANI's resource American and Western Hostages, please click here.

To read UANI's resource on U.S. Navy Veteran Michael White, please click here.

To read UANI's resource on Retired FBI Agent Robert Levinson, please click here.

To read UANI's resource on Iranian-American Businessman Siamak Namazi, please click here.

To read UANI's resource on Iranian-American Former Senior UN official Baquer Namazi, please click here.

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